At the undergraduate level, the department offers several highly successful General Education courses (History of Rock and Roll, The Beatles, Film Music, American Popular Song, History of Opera, The Symphony, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, History of Jazz, American Musicals, Electronic Dance Music, Music & Gender, and Gay & Lesbian Popular Music). It also provides the required History of Music sequence for majors in the Music Department, as well as undergraduate seminars on a variety of topics. Recent topics have included: Motown; Bach cantatas; Television music;  Blues and Individual Expression; Mozart operas; Feminist Criticism; Music, Media and Consumer society; Nationalism; Mahler; and Stravinsky.

The undergraduate major in Music History was established soon after the Department became part of the College, and it now has about 48 students. This major is designed to provide training in the study of music for liberal arts students who do not wish to pursue a degree in performance. In 1994, the Department instituted a Music History minor, which currently has about 54 students. Given the new areas of popular music studies, film scores, and music criticism offered by the current musicology faculty, the undergraduate major is being tailored to satisfy the needs of students who wish to study music in popular culture, as well as those concerned with classical music. 

For degree requirements of the Music History major, click here.

For information regarding the undergraduate major please contact Professor Elisabeth Le Guin , Undergraduate Faculty Advisor at (310) 206-1088, or the Musicology Department's Student Affairs Officer, Barbara Van Nostrand at (310) 206-5187.