The Bachelor of Arts in Music program offers undergraduate students an opportunity to study music within the broad framework of Liberal Studies. The program emphasizes the liberal arts and music research skills to prepare students for a wide range of careers in music and beyond. Students audition for the School of Music and pursue the same music core courses, private lessons, and ensembles, but the curriculum affords greater flexibility for exploring disciplines outside of music.
Liberal Studies courses provide students with a foundation in critical thinking, a foreign language, technological literacy, and writing that complements their musical studies.
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Wide Ranging Study
Students are encouraged to pursue a wide range of experiences during their time at DePaul. Many students pursue a minor in another field (and in some cases, a double major may be possible). The Junior Year Experiential Learning course may be fulfilled by a wide range of possibilities - an internship, a service-learning course, a short-term study abroad course.
Study Abroad - especially DePaul's many short-term programs - offers students firsthand experience with other cultures and international travel.
Capstone in the Bachelor of Arts Program
The Bachelor of Arts program culminates in a Capstone course completed senior year. Rather than giving a degree recital, students work on a creative and/or research project that integrates their musical studies with other experiences at DePaul. Past topics have been truly wide ranging: a lecture/recital on the influence of folk music on art song; a study of music and poetry during the Spanish Civil War; an investigation of music and disability; technological innovations in piano construction; video game music.
Beyond DePaul
Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts program, do not do any one thing - they do many things! Recent graduates have entered graduate programs in diverse fields - music performance, education, physical therapy, neuroscience, law. Many continue to perform and actively participate in music activities and organizations, regardless of the field in which they are employed. Their training at DePaul prepares them to enrich the musical life of the communities in which they reside.