[Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory

[Christopher Doll]

All,

Jane's e-mail about listing degrees accurately on CVs prompts me to mention a 
problem I myself have encountered regarding the official name of my PhD. My 
degree is from Columbia, where my primary area was theory. The music department 
always referred to their PhD major as "Musicology," under which students were 
admitted to separate streams: theory, historical musicology, and 
ethnomusicology. Thus I thought a PhD in Musicology was what I was technically 
pursuing. However, when I finally earned my degree I noticed my university 
transcript said "Music," with no mention of Musicology. Since it is the trustees 
of the university, not the department, who confer degrees, I have tended (since 
graduation) to say that I have a PhD in Music, but I can honestly say that I'm 
not sure what the official title is, or if there even is such a thing. The paper 
document of my degree offers no mention whatsoever of Music, Musicology, or 
Music Theory. I'm all for accuracy; I just don't know who's the final authority.

At Rutgers, where I now teach, we have a similar situation--the department 
currently offers majors in composition/theory and musicology, but my 
understanding is that the graduate school and the university only recognize 
"Music."


Perhaps these are oddities specific to Columbia and Rutgers, but my hunch is 
that they are not. Many job offers list a "PhD in Music Theory" as a 
requirement, and I've  often wondered how many programs officially offer such a 
degree--or if they even know for certain.

Best,
Chris

--
Christopher Doll
Assistant Professor
Department of Music
Mason Gross School of the Arts
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey




________________________________
From: Jane Clendinning <jclendinning at fsu.edu>
To: Leslie Kinton <lkinton at primus.ca>; SMT Talk 
<smt-talk at societymusictheory.org>
Sent: Fri, November 19, 2010 8:53:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Smt-talk] Princeton and Theory

Colleagues,

Listing the type and area of a doctoral degree inaccurately on a CV or
position application is "falsifying credentials", which is quite a serious
matter.  This type of intentional inaccuracy could be grounds for getting
fired (because you were hired under false pretenses) or could get an
applicant removed from a job application pool if the falsehood is noted by a
committee member ( . . . if someone would lie about that type of
information, which can easily be verified by checking to see which degrees a
university grants or by calling references, how can the person be trusted on
anything else?).

...

Jane Clendinning


      
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