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Florida State / College of Music / Areas of Study / Music Theory & Composition / Departmental Exams / Graduate Music Theory and Composition Majors / Ph.D. Theory Preliminary Exam
Ph.D. Theory Preliminary Exam
Preliminary Exam Advising (the "pre-pre")
The Preliminary Exam Advising session represents the last opportunity for feedback on your proposed dissertation topic from the entire theory faculty. A meeting will be scheduled during Finals Week at the end of the student's second year. The student should deliver a Statement of Research Plan document (a prose statement indicating the chosen dissertation research area, including an extensive bibliography) to all theory faculty members no later than a week prior to the meeting. In addition to discussing the proposed topic, the faculty will identify certain areas of scholarship that you should investigate in preparation for your preliminary exams.
Prior to the advising session, each candidate will complete the College of Music Program of Studies form, listing his or her course work toward the doctoral degree, which is signed by Prof. Clendinning (as Doctoral Advisor) and reviewed by Prof. Jones (as Theory/Composition Area Chair), prior to submission to the Music Graduate Office, where it is signed by Prof. Beckman and filed. This form requires the following information: the course number, title, instructor, grade, hours credit, curricular requirement met, and term taken. Any courses in progress or yet to be taken should be listed with as much of the above information as is available. As a part of the review of coursework, the candidate must show that he or she has completed the language competency requirement or provide detail of the plan for doing so. Students may satisfy the language competency requirement in any of the following ways:
- Registering for and completing the appropriate graduate language reading course and passing the graduate reading proficiency test, or simply by registering for and passing the graduate reading proficiency test.
- Taking undergraduate classes through the 2200 level (usually three semesters) or showing completion of those courses on their undergraduate or graduate transcript.
- Taking the Classics Department (Latin) or Modern Languages department (French, Spanish, German) undergraduate placement tests (free of charge) and showing a score that would place them out of the undergraduate language requirement (2200 level or higher). For other languages, the Modern Languages and Classics Departments offer the opportunity to speak with a professor in that language to determine placement. Providing written (including email) documentation from faculty in those departments that shows placement past the 2200 level will satisfy our requirement.
- Taking a summer intensive language program and passing the Intermediate (2200 equivalent) level.
- CLEP credit is an option for student with no university language experience.
- Bilingual students may claim competency in their other (non-English) language, though they should be prepared to demonstrate reading and writing competency as well as spoken fluency.
- Students may propose other methods for demonstrating competency, but they must be approved by our faculty.
The Examination
The preliminary examination, taken during or following the final semester of coursework, is a written and oral demonstration of readiness to proceed with the dissertation. It is in part tailored to the candidate's specific interests as they pertain to the dissertation. In addition, it is a more general test of an understanding of the discipline of music theory through writing on subjects related to music theory, history, analysis and literature. The written examination will consist of three papers on topics or questions submitted by the committee. The candidate will choose three questions from the four submitted. Two of the questions will be research questions and therefore open book; one will be closed book. The candidate will have one week to complete the exam, a copy of which should be given to each committee member.
To schedule the Preliminary Exam, the candidate should contact his or her major professor who will then solicit questions from the examining committee members. Preliminary Exams will be administered between August 1 and March 15. The oral examination will be scheduled no sooner than 2 weeks after submitting the completed exams, and only during the Fall and Spring semesters. The candidate will schedule the oral examination in conjunction with the major professor.
