What is meant by "Popular Music"?
The term of the same name is synonymous with the internationally established research term “popular music”, and covers musical genres and styles like jazz, folk music, world music, roots, reggae, grunge, hip-hop, electronica, rockabilly, rhythm & blues, punk, country, metal, soul, house, blues, funk, dub etc.
In this way, a broad understanding of the performative aspect of popular music is situated as the basis of relevant research themes which might form a part of such a study programme. Included in this understanding are themes which touch upon studio practice and the recording industry (for example musician role, producer role, sound engineer role, recording studio as a music-cultural arena etc), popular music and multimedia (including film music and music videos), the rock festival as a cultural phenomenon, rock concerts seen from the stage and so on. In this context, the scholarly aspect is primarily based upon popular musicology as a subsidiary discipline of musicology, but also opens for interdisciplinary input from subject disciplines such as sociology, media studies, social anthropology etc. In other words, this means that even though the specialisation is focused on popular music, the specialisation allows for a broad academic approach to this research field. Our use of the term “musicology” consequently opens up the possibility of interdisciplinary methods of approach where theoretical and methodological choices can be brought in from fields such as sociology, social anthropology, media studies and so on.
Content and structure
The doctoral degree programme is 180 credits, which corresponds to a nominal three-year programme of study. It comprises an academic training component totaling 30 credits, as well as a thesis component of 150 credits. The training component comprises one obligatory and one elective part.
Candidates can choose between two different thesis formats: a combined artistic-scholarly thesis which contains both a written and a performance-based/creative part, or a scholarly thesis. The latter can be either a monograph or a compilation of several smaller pieces (an article-based thesis).
The PhD degree is awarded on the basis of:
- Completed and approved academic training component
- Approved scholarly or combined artistic-scholarly thesis
- Approved doctoral degree examination (trial lecture and public disputation)
The academic research training component of the doctoral degree programme at the Faculty of Fine Arts is comprised of one obligatory and one elective part. The obligatory part of the specialisation in popular music performance is comprised of 15 credits and the rest is made up of electives. In total, the training component makes up 30 credits.
The obligatory part covers the following courses:
- KF-616 Philosophy of science and research methods (5 credits)
- KF-601 Analytical theory and method in popular music research (10 credits)
It is possible to choose the following elective courses within the specialisation in popular music performance:
- KF-604 Music technology and production (10 credits)
- KF-606 Ethnomusicology and world-music research (10 credits)
- In addition it is expected that candidates take an elective 5-credit course at UiA or another national or international institution.
Supervisors and teachers
Our academic community consists of several leading researchers within visual arts, performing arts, and music. To get to know us better take a look at the profiles.
Active Ph.D.-candidates
In the specialization in Art in Context, we have several Ph.D. projects with different profiles. We also have several publicly funded Ph.D. projects. You can read more about the candidates and their projects below.
Contact persons for the specialisation
- michael.rauhut@uia.no
- Phone
- +47 38 14 23 61
- clare.hildebrandt@uia.no