PhD in Music

Subjects of research

Staff and students of the Department of Music pursue research on a wide range of subjects, mainly but not exclusively focused on the music of Asia and Africa. Staff have regional interests in the music of East and Central Asia (Harris), Indonesia and Thailand (Gray), India and Pakistan (Williams), the Islamic Middle East and Jewish world (Webster-Kogen), West Africa and Cuba (Durán) and South and East Africa (Impey). But research is not limited to these areas: projects have been undertaken on American jazz, and on Caribbean, Mediterranean and Eastern European music, for example. Staff often have research interests in issues that cross regional boundaries; see the Department Staff page for a summary of their interests, and select the name of a lecturer for further details of their individual research specialisms and activities.

Whatever its regional origin, music is studied as a cultural phenomenon, and also from analytical and historical perspectives. Instrumental and vocal, sacred and secular, art and popular, traditional and modern musical forms are all of equal interest. Research methods employed include fieldwork, interview, archive research, recording and filming, performance, transcription and analysis, and composition.

Research training and coursework

All research students are required to follow a course of research training held in the department in their first year. In addition they may be required to take one or more postgraduate courses, such as the MMus core course Ethnomusicology in Practice, and/or a language course, depending on their prior qualifications and the requirements of their research project. They are also expected to attend department research seminars; and they may be recommended to attend research training workshops elsewhere in SOAS, or in institutions such as the Institute for Musical Research.