Senior and Honors Projects
The Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology Honors Program offers eligible students the opportunity for advanced creative and scholarly work and recognition within the School.
Music concentration students must successfully complete a Senior Project, including a recital, scholarly paper, or a substantive musical composition. Each student is responsible for securing a supervisor for his or her project. The project supervisor should be a tenured member of the faculty or a faculty member on the tenure track. Non-tenure/tenure track faculty members will be allowed to supervise an honors thesis or project under exceptional circumstances (ADU approval is required). It is recommended that students begin planning for the project as early as possible and, ideally, meet with prospective faculty supervisor one or two semesters prior to undertaking the project. The faculty supervisor will then help the student select the second reader.
*Students who are eligible for Major Honors use their Major Honors in place of their Senior Project. Student must complete the requirements for the project as well as additional honor requirements.
Requirements
To participate in the Music Concentration Senior Project, students must have completed a minimum of 90 semester credit hours.
Project Options
Recital Option
A recital may include works studied with the supervising instructor and is presented in a public venue. The recital must be at least 30 minutes in length and include a variety of styles/genres. Students are expected to create a written program which must be approved by the supervisors. There will be not additional papers required for the student to write.
*Major Honors recitals must include historic program notes (minimum of 5 pages).
Scholarly Paper Option
A scholarly paper is usually understood to be a substantial research or critical paper (minimum 20 pages) on a specific topic. While the particular topic, approach, scope, and length are worked out between the student and the faculty supervisor, the paper should demonstrate that the student has mastered the concepts and materials in his or her field and has come to independent interpretations and conclusions. The subject of this paper should include topics from music history or music theory.
*Major Honors scholarly papers must include a minimum of 30 pages (can be split into two smaller papers).
Substantive Musical Composition Option
The student must create an original musical composition of at least 20 minutes in length. Attention should be paid to formal, stylistic, and historic content. Students will need to submit a score of the work and a recording of the work. A public performance is encouraged.
*Major Honors musical compositions must include a formal analysis (minimum of 5 pages).
Registering for Senior Project
In order to register for honors credit, students should consult with their academic advisor. Students must complete an Application and Registration for Music Senior Project (pdf) form (or Major Honors form), which is signed by the supervisor and a second reader and is turned in to Bass School’s Academic Advising Suite. Students will then register for three hours of credit under the honors course number MUSI 4390 (or AP 4V99).
*Major Honors students must follow all guides included on the Major Honors info sheet.