Student Handbook

Dissertation Proposal Guidelines

The Faculty Membership and Research Committee must review and approve all dissertation proposals in the Music Program. Each student is asked to make a brief appearance at a meeting of the committee in order to seek its approval. The committee meets at least once per semester; for exact dates, please inquire in the Music office.

Students must submit proposals to the Music office at least two weeks prior to a committee meeting. Proposals must be submitted by email to the chair of the dissertation proposal committee. The current chair is Norman Carey. For proposal deadlines, see deadlines announcements.

Proposals should be prepared under the supervision of an advisor and first reader from the faculty, and the advisor and first reader must approve the final version of the proposal submitted to the committee. Students must submit drafts of their proposals to their adviser and reader at least one month before the committee's deadline. Composers will also have a composition adviser who may also be an adviser or reader for the essay. The advisor and reader must express their support for the project, and their willingness to serve in their designated roles, in an email message sent to the committee chair at least 48 hours before the meeting. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange for the submission of these supporting materials; without them, a proposal is not complete.

Proposals are normally around fifteen pages in length. Pages should be numbered.

All students whose proposals have been approved must submit a Dissertation Proposal Clearance: Human Participants Form to the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs.

The proposal should include the following:

1. Title Page
    a. Working title of the dissertation
    b. Student’s name and degree program, specifying the area of specialization
    c. Student’s email address and phone number
    d. Names of the advisor and first reader

2. General Statement
    a. A concise description of the subject, including a brief explanation of its biographical and/or historical context
    b. An explanation of the purpose of the project and its value to scholarly research

3. State of research
    a. An indication of the present state of research in the area of the subject
    b. A bibliography of relevant literature, including primary and secondary sources

4. Approach
    a. An explanation of the research plan and methodology for the project
    b. A provisional table of contents, with a brief explanation of the substance and purpose of each chapter

5. Writing Sample
    A brief sample (usually 2–5 pages) of the kind of work to be undertaken in the the main body of the dissertation. Its exact contents will vary according to the chosen topic and methodology. Typical examples include (but are not limited to) musical analyses; examination of sketch materials; excerpts from a translation; and transcriptions from recordings, with interpretive commentary.

    Composition students should include a description of their proposed composition, including instrumentation, duration, texts (if applicable) and other compositional features they can describe briefly.

For proposal deadlines, see deadlines announcements.
 

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