Lang’s General Degree Requirements
In addition to the requirements outlined here, Lang has specific requirements, including a minimum number of credits in liberal arts courses as well as college residency requirements. All students should read Lang’s General Degree Requirements and consult with both their Student Success advisor and their Departmental Faculty Advisor each semester to ensure that they are on track to graduate.
Degree Works
To be sure their Degree Works account reflects the information in this worksheet, students should forward any approved exemptions from the following requirements to their Student Success advisor.
Requirements for the BA in Contemporary Music
As of fall 2020, students declaring the major in Contemporary Music must take 12 courses, outlined as follows. Students must earn a grade of C or higher in all courses to meet the requirements for the major in Contemporary Music. Declare your major by following the process outlined in Declaring Your Major. Students who have declared the major in Contemporary Music before fall 2020 but wish to follow the fall 2020 curriculum can consult their Student Success advisor about submitting a Change of Catalog Year request. Only specific courses satisfy the major requirements, including electives. Courses should be chosen carefully, in consultation with the Departmental Faculty Advisor and your Student Success advisor. Track your progress using the program worksheet (below). See the university course catalog for fall 2020 Contemporary Music courses that fulfill these requirements.
The curriculum of Eugene Lang College's Contemporary Music program provides undergraduate students with a range of intellectual perspectives and practical skills that enable them to address the new and evolving challenges of careers in music today. Approaches from musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory serve as a foundation for this program, but interdisciplinary approaches are equally important as students learn to apply their knowledge and skills within and across artistic disciplines (such as theater and dance) and other liberal arts disciplines (such as history, literature, and philosophy). Hands-on practice and the creative process are also emphasized, so that students learn to engage with musical thinking as well as music making in inventive ways.
The curriculum of the Contemporary Music concentration is structured around three focus areas:
- Courses on popular and global music, exploring both mainstream and alternative genres, international repertoires and musical practices, and the musical life of immigrant and diasporic communities within New York City. Sample courses: Hip Hop, Punk and Noise, How Race Defines American Music, Music in Jewish Life, Music of Latin America, Music in the Islamic World
- Courses in music technology and new media, focusing on the digital production and distribution of music as well as the uses of music in film, video, and other media. Sample courses: Introduction to Music Technology, Music and Digital Media, Prospects of Recording, Music in Film, Electronic Music, Intermedia
- Courses in music history, theory, and criticism, including music philosophy and aesthetics, the poetics of music, the study of music in social and cultural context, and interdisciplinary connections linking music and the other arts. Sample courses: Poetics of Song, Visual Music, Musical Borrowing from Plainchant to Sampling, Improvisation, Composition and Analysis
Most courses in the Contemporary Music curriculum are suitable for students at all levels of musical training and experience; many courses do not require the ability to read music notation. Prerequisite courses (Fundamentals of Western Music and Global Perspectives on Music) are noted in individual course descriptions.
Lang students can also enroll in other music courses, performance ensembles, and private lessons through Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and Parsons School of Design. For students interested in study abroad, Lang occasionally offers a summer course, Music in Berlin, in collaboration with the FUBIS program at the Free University in Berlin.
Major Requirements
Introductory courses:
- LMUS 2010 Fundamentals of Western Music (3-4 credits)
- LMUS 2200 Global Perspectives on Music (3-4 credits)
Other required courses:
- 5 LMUS courses (15-20 credits)
- LMUS 2053 Sound and Technology: An Introduction (3-4 credits)
- 3 Interarts (LINA) courses (9-12 credits)
Senior Capstone:
- Choose one (3-4 credits):
- Interarts (LINA) senior seminar
- An approved individual or independent project
Total credits: 36-38