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The Music Ph.D. program offers four specialized tracks: Composition, Music Studies, Music Theory, and Musicology. Each track features a compact set of core requirements, giving students flexibility to design their remaining curriculum with faculty guidance to align with their academic or artistic goals. The Music Studies track uniquely enables interdisciplinary combinations (such as Music Theory/Composition or Musicology/Music Theory) to address evolving trends in global music scholarship and creation. Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance provides this research-focused doctoral degree, where candidates can specialize in one of four distinct areas based on their professional aspirations. Alumni typically enter careers in musical composition, academia, or contribute to scholarly research. The program accommodates both full-time and part-time students, with a seven-year completion window. Final degree requirements include a dissertation showcasing developed research capabilities - composition students present an original creative work as part of theirs.
The Music Studies concentration's interdisciplinary approach permits customized study combinations, such as pairing Composition with Music Theory or Musicology with Music Theory, to match individual career objectives.