Course Details

Course Code(s):
MAIMSUTFAD
Available:
Full-Time
Intake:
Autumn/Fall
Course Start Date:
September
Duration:
1 Semester, Full-Time (Certificate) / 2 Semesters, Full-Time (Diploma) / 1 Year, Full-Time (MA)
Award:
Masters
Qualification:
NFQ Level 9 Major Award
Faculty: Irish World Academy of Music and Dance
Course Type: Taught
Fees: For Information on Fees, see section below.

Contact(s):

Name: Dr Sandra Joyce
Address: Irish World Academy of Music and Dance Email: Sandra.Joyce@ul.ie Telephone: +353-61-202286
Express Interest

Register your interest here for more information or to be notified when applications are open.

Brief Description

Postgraduate Certificate in Irish Music Studies-30 ECTS-Autumn Semester Video 

Postgraduate Diploma in Irish Music Studies- 60 ECTS-Autumn and Spring Semesters Video

Master of Arts in Irish Music Studies- 90ECTS-Autumn, Spring and Summer Semesters Video

These three connected programmes provide students with flexible options for full-time learning, allowing them to stack these programmes over a number of years or to complete this programme consecutively over one year.  Students can undertake the Post-Graduate Certificate in the Autumn semester either face-to-face, online or in a hybrid fashion.  Students can then exit at the end of the Autumn Semester with the Certificate or continue their studies (on campus) in the spring semester where they can fulfil the requirements for the Postgraduate Diploma. If they wish, students can then progress to the summer semester to achieve the higher award of a Master of Arts in Irish Music Studies. 

These programmes draw upon considerable expertise from across the Academy’s wide range of disciplinary approaches, exploring and expanding ideas and sounds of what constitutes ‘Irish music’, from historical and contemporary perspectives. The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance has become a leading centre for the study of Irish traditional music in particular, and while this genre informs some of the content of this Masters, it is one of a number of Irish musical traditions that may be pursued as part of the programme. You are also encouraged to engage with the discourse through your own performance/compositional practice, if desired and where appropriate.

Students have the option of exiting with either the Postgraduate Certificate in Irish Music Studies at the end of the Autumn Semester or the Postgraduate Diploma in Irish Music Studies at the end of the Spring Semester.  If students wish to do this they have the option of rejoining either the Diploma or MA in subsequent academic years. 

 

Autumn (Certificate) SemesterSpring (Diploma) SemesterSummer (Masters)

Mandatory:

  • MD6171 Framing Irish Music:  Sources & Discourses 1
  • MU6061 Music Ethnography
  • MD6021 Introduction to Fieldwork Techniques
  • MD6161 Irish Traditional Music Performance Research Seminar
  • MD6041 Introduction to Ritual Studies

Options: students choose two options from the list below

  • MD6111 Colloquium 1
  • MD6051 Independent Study 1
  • MD6031 Media Technologies for Performing Arts & Arts Research
  • MD6071 Writing & the Documentation of Arts Practice 1
  • BR5001 Broadening through Awareness, Activism and the Arts (postgraduate)

Mandatory:

  • MD6152 Framing Irish Music: Sources & Discourses 2
  • MU5022 The Anthropology of Music OR MU5612 Irish Traditional Music Practicum 2
  • MD6081 Critical Engagements with Irish Traditional Music


Options: students choose two options from the list below

  • MD6102 Colloquium 2
  • MD6052 Independent Study 2
  • BR5002 Broadening: Introduction to Place-Making (postgraduate)
  • MD6062 Critical Contexts for Arts Management & Cultural Policy
  • MD5022 Final Presentation

 

A primary degree in a suitable discipline with a first or second class honours, or an approved professional qualification (Primary degree: Level 8 - National Qualifications Authority of Ireland).  An interview will be required in all cases, as well as an audition where necessary. Candidates may be required to submit additional audio visual and/or written material.

WHAT TO INCLUDE WITH YOUR APPLICATION:

  • Qualification transcripts and certificates
  • A copy of your birth certificate or passport
  • A copy of your CV
  • If your qualifications have been obtained in a country where English is an official language this will suffice. 
  •  If this is not available, the following additional documents must be provided:
  • English translation of your qualification(s)/transcripts AND
  • English language competency certificate
  • Please click here for Further Information on English Language Requirements

Certificate:

EU Fees – €3,635  Non-EU Fees – €8,450

Diploma / MA :

EU  €7,600  - Non  EU - €17,400

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Click here for a list of scholarships available to prospective Irish World Academy of Music and Dance students.

Further information on fees and payment of fees is available from the Student Fees Office website. All fee related queries should be directed to the Student Fees Office (Phone: +353 61 213 007 or email student.fees.office@ul.ie.).

Students applying for these programmes must apply for the MA Irish Music Studies and then exit the programme at the end of semester one to be awarded with the Postgraduate Certificate.  Students in later years may re-join the programme in January to complete the Postgraduate Certificate in Irish Music Studies or the MA Irish Music Studies.

 

Please click here for information on funding and scholarships.

The degree course is designed to meet the continuing education needs of graduates in music and in cognate and closely related disciplines or those with extensive engagement with the communities of traditional music. Students of this programme will be interested in developing critical engagement with research into areas of traditional music practice, contemporary and historical, developing their own research questions and outcomes in the process.  The course is also designed to cater to the occupational and vocational needs of the following professions: university and college lecturers, secondary teachers of music, professional music performers, music archivists, music administrators, music educators, and media specialists.

Rhiannon Ramsey

Rhiannon Ramsey Brimberg, Graduate, MA Irish Music Studies: 

“From an academic point of view, it has definitely helped broaden the way I see things. The students in my classes came from all over the world. The number of viewpoints that I was exposed to and being made aware of was so beneficial. The classes were really interesting, and I liked how they were structured. The lecturers on the programme are extremely knowledgeable and supportive. They really are experts in their field.”

The degree course is designed to meet the continuing education needs of graduates in music and in cognate and closely related disciplines or those with extensive engagement with the communities of traditional music. Students of this programme will be interested in developing critical engagement with research into areas of traditional music practice, contemporary and historical, developing their own research questions and outcomes in the process.  This research can result in traditional academic and more performance focused outcomes.  The course is also designed to cater to the occupational and vocational needs of the following professions: university and college lecturers, secondary teachers of music, professional music performers, music archivists, music administrators, music educators, and media specialists.