The undergraduate B.A. degree in Folklore and Ethnomusicology includes the study of performance across common categories and within specific cultures and regions. We consider diverse human experiences and the many ways social groups reflect particular world views. Our students gain a solid grounding in the research methods and materials needed to facilitate the study of traditional arts, and they participate in collaboration and conversation around the significance of culture in relation to a number of universal themes, including belief, health, heritage, mobility, and sustainability.
Folklore & Ethnomusicology B.A.
Our discipline emphasizes fieldwork methods to investigate how societies function. Fieldwork involves documenting and learning about people’s lives, expressions, and beliefs in context. Through the study of different social groups and cultures, students gain skills in observation, analysis, documentation, reporting, and multicultural understanding.
This major prepares you for a range of careers, including those involving the arts, education, historic preservation, communication, and cross-cultural understanding.
An individualized program of study
When students enter the program, they plan an individualized program of study with our undergraduate advisor. Whether pursuing a major or minor, they can focus on either folklore or ethnomusicology, or some combination of the two. Students earning degrees in Journalism in The Media School or from the Jacobs School of Music are also eligible to pursue an outside-field major in Folklore and Ethnomusicology. Contact the undergraduate advisors of those departments for more information.
The B.A. degree requires a minimum of 120 credit hours. Coursework consists of general B.A. degree requirements and a minimum of 30 credit hours in Folklore and Ethnomusicology courses.
Becoming a part of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology has changed my life. It has allowed me to see the world through different eyes and made me less afraid to be myself.
Andrea Hadsell, B.A. 2015
The College of Arts