Graduate Ethnomusicology Comprehensive Exam – ETHM 692

CG • Section 16WK • 11/10/2019 to 04/18/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

This course is a written and oral examination that serves as a culminating assessment for the MA in Ethnomusicology. The comprehensive exam will be based on content of courses taken in the MA in Ethnomusicology.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

At the end of the master's degree, it is important to assess the student's knowledge and skills gained through the degree. This comprehensive exam allows faculty to evaluate the competencies achieved by each student.

Course Assignment

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Quiz: Comprehensive Exam Preparation

After reviewing the course and requirements, the student will acknowledge  the requirements, tentatively identify the week in which they will do the Written Exam, and provide projected schedule availability for the Oral Exam.

Foreign Language Reading Ability Assignment

Because the ethnomusicology student interacts with other cultures, it is important that students have the ability to read in another language. This allows the student to more effectively research the music of another culture. For this assignment, the student must submit documentation of the ability to read a language other than English.

Quiz: Comprehensive Exam Question Download

In order to receive the 4 questions the student must answer on the Written Exam Assignments, the students will complete this quiz. Students should only take this quiz when they are ready to answer all 4 questions within 5 days. This quiz is password protected. The student will reach out to the faculty member to request the password when he/she is ready to take the quiz.

This quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned module. This quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 4 true/false questions, and will have a 60-minute time limit.

Written Exam: Submission Assignment

Students will submit their response to the Quiz: Comprehensive Exam Question Download within 5 days of completing the quiz. Each response should be between 3 - 6 pages totaling 12 - 18 pages of written responses. The student will use Turabian formatting style to complete this assignment. 

Oral Exam Assignment

After submitting the Written Exam: Submission Assignment, the student will schedule the Oral Exam video conference with their thesis advisor and reader. The student will present the questions and responses from the Written Exam: Submission Assignment during the Oral Exam. The thesis advisor and reader will review the student's responses and ask the student questions. 

After the Oral Exam, the thesis advisor and reader may request that the student expand on previous answers or answer another question. If required, the student must submit additional written responses to the Written Exam: Submission Assignment link in Canvas prior to receiving a grade for the Oral Exam Assignment and the Written Exam: Final Grade Assignment. 

Written Exam: Final Grade Assignment

The student will receive a grade for the Written Exam responses on the Written Exam: Final Grade Assignment. Students will not receive a grade for the written responses until the Oral Exam Assignment is complete and, if applicable, any additional written responses are received from the student.