European MA/MPhil in Popular Music

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Last updated: 21.VI.99

European MA/MPhil in Popular Music

The European MA/MPhil Popular Music is the result of extensive collaboration between five European universities, and represents the first postgraduate research degree in popular music to be offered as part of an ERASMUS programme. The MA/MPhil programme covers a broad area of research options in the field of Popular Music Studies and has been initiated and developed by staff of the Popular Music Research Unit.

The University of Salford has approved the course, and September 1996 is the proposed date for starting the programme. With the support of ERASMUS, curriculum meetings have been taking place since 1993 between the following recognized ICP partners and the University of Salford: University of Oslo (Norway), Humboldt University (Berlin), University of Aalborg (Denmark) and the University of Tampere (Finland). The philosophy underpinning the programme so far is to create a postgraduate course that involves critical research into popular music from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives (see Table below). Our course team, consisting of representatives from each of the above named universities, is now satisfied that this ERASMUS supported European MA/MPhil Popular Music will foster a healthy exchange of students and staff between the institutions involved in this project. Moreover, it is envisaged that this course will attract students from other countries in Europe, as well as the rest of the world, who are interested in researching into popular music from a European perspective. Such a course will be innovative and unique, and constitute a logical progression on from Salford’s highly successful BA(Hons) Popular Music & Recording, itself the first of its kind in Europe, which in 1995 was officially graded as 'excellent’ by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Furthermore, it is mainly through the research work in popular music by the staff of the Popular Music Research Unit that Salford University received financial assistance from ERASMUS and was designated as the lead-site for this exciting new development.

The potential demand for such a course has been carefully monitored from both inside and outside all the ICP institutions. As a result of the successful ERASMUS ICP meetings and exchanges that have been taking place since 1993 at Salford, Aalborg, Berlin, Oslo and Tampere, there has been clear evidence of interest on the part of prospective postgraduate students from all partner institutions for our proposed course. At Salford, there is an increasing demand for postgraduate activity in the field of musicological and technological research, resulting largely from the growing number of graduates of the Popular Music & Recording degree. While career opportunities following such an MA or MPhil are varied and wide, there is an increasing demand for well qualified academics in the relatively new field of Popular Music Studies, an area which is opening up in countless university music departments, conservatoires and schools across Europe. Entry qualifications for this course will be commensurate with those of all master’s level courses offered at the University of Salford, and will demand some prior specialism in the specialist field chosen at undergraduate level, or substantial prior experiential learning. Meetings with our ICP partners have involved discussions on entry qualifications to a research MA course in the UK, and we are satisfied that our partners are aware of the criteria involved. We are now desirous of funds to enable us to pilot this unique and innovative course in September 1996. The duration of the proposed European MA Popular Music as a full-time course would be for one academic calendar year running from October through to September. Applicants of appropriate academic standing would be offered the opportunity of registering for an MPhil (two years’ full-time study). Students registering on a part-time basis would, of course, study for a longer period. The structure of the course comprises up to a 40% taught component, with a minimum 60% taken by research. It is intended that the taught part of the course should take place in the student’s home institution (see italicized sentence below), while the research work would be supervised in the institution of the relevant supervisor. The taught component will be in two parts, one of which will concern research methodology, and the other, if taken in the UK, will concern the development of critical skills. We are keen, here, to allow some flexibility to those of our university partners who have to work within established national traditions of what is considered essential to music study at this level, and therefore the second part of the taught component will be subject to such academic changes as may be required by the student’s home university. A special feature of the course is the period of study away from the home university of the students, although all students who enrol on this pilot programme will be registered with the University of Salford.

Specialisms within the programme

The broader specialisms offered by the ICP institutes that inform the design and structure of the course are indicated in the table below:

ICP Specialisms: European MA/MPhil Popular Music
	Critical Musicology	Music Technology	Music Therapy	Music Sociology	Ethnomusicology, Folk	Music Anthropology	Cultural Studies
Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany				+		+	+
Oslo University, Norway	+		+			+
Aalborg University, Denmark	+	+	+
Tampere University, Finland	+				+
University of Salford, UK	+	+		+			+

How to apply:

Admission to the European MA/MPhil in Popular Music is by Salford University application form or through partner institutions.

Admissions tutor: Sheila Whiteley ~ email to: s.whiteley@music.salford.ac.uk

European MA/MPhil in Popular Music

Faculty of Media, Music and Performance
Adelphi Campus,
Peru St.,
SALFORD.
MANCHESTER,
M3 6EQ.
UK.

Fax: 0161 2956113