FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been approved to offer a Ph.D. in church music.
The National Association of Schools of Music approved the new Ph.D. at its June meeting.
William Colson, assistant dean of Southwestern’s school of church music, said the process to develop the degree began about 10 years ago when the program was separated from the doctor of musical arts to give students a degree option that emphasized academics more and performance less.
“In about 1990 the advanced studies committee decided that it wanted to break off the concentrations in ministry, theory and music history and award those degrees under a Ph.D.,” Colson said.
More seminar work is required in the Ph.D. program and less time spent in performance-related areas, which is the concentration of the D.M.A. More language-related work is also required for the Ph.D.
All doctoral students must be able to translate German. Ph.D. students must also pass a reading test in a second foreign language, which in most cases is French.
The degree requires about 42 hours of seminar course work, an oral examination and a dissertation. As of spring 2000 semester, five students were enrolled in the program.
–30–
