The Department of Music at the State University of New York at Stony Brook offers degrees in the history and theory of music at both the Masters and Doctoral levels. These degrees prepare students for professional level work in the diverse fields of music history, theory, and pedagogy.

Applications must be done online to the graduate school.

This program of study distinguishes itself from other graduate programs in the United States in several ways:

• The Department encourages interdisciplinary study both within and outside of music. Students may pursue other music-related programs such as performance or composition in tandem with work devoted to the history-theory program. And, students may combine music studies with work in other related fields as women's studies, cultural studies, philosophy, or history. At the doctoral level, work in related fields may be included in the program of study.
• The Department offers an outstanding faculty with broad-based expertise in many areas of musicology and ethnomusicology. A special emphasis is music of the 20th and now the 21st century. This emphasis is manifest in specific course and degree requirements and in the general music-making activities of the Department.
• The Department encourages students in the program to be knowledgeable about historical and theoretical issues of music, and recognizes that the two domains of musical study are intricately entwined with one another.
• The Department thrives on the interaction between the various sub-disciplines of music--history, theory, composition, and performance. Students in the various degree programs often take courses with one another and interact as members of a comprehensive music department.
• The Department encourages student participation in various committees pertaining to the functioning of the larger musical community. Participation in the general musical community at Stony Brook is encouraged and expected.
• At the doctoral level, each student in the history-theory program devises a unique program of study in consultation with a Directing Committee. Each faculty member of this committee helps to oversee the student's progress toward completion of degree requirements.
• The Department is further enriched by an active program in composition, an "emedia" working group, and an internationally renown performance faculty.
• Students in both the Masters and Doctoral programs interact with faculty on a regular basis, receiving individualized attention and close supervision.
• Students in both the Masters and Doctoral programs have the opportunity to teach music courses as part of the program of study, either as assistants of faculty or individually.

The Music of Guillaume de Machaut
Western Theories of Mode c. 800-1550
Professor Sarah Fuller

Phenomenology and Music
The Implications of Postmodern Thought for Music Theory and Analysis
Theories of Tonality
Postmodernism and Music
Theoretical Paradigms for Twentieth Century Music
Professor Judy Lochhead

Music of Brazil
Professor Frederick Moehn

Music, Gender and Sexuality
Music between the Local and the Global
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Professor Jane Sugarman

Introduction to Popular Music Studies
Professor Peter Winkler