Music Major, 21E/S

These joint degree programs draw from both humanistic and engineering/science studies, providing students with a basic command of each mode of inquiry. One component is selected from the undergraduate degree curriculum of an engineering/science department, which is approved by a faculty member in the field. The other component consists of subjects in a humanities field, chosen by the student in consultation with an advisor from the appropriate humanities faculty. This unique arrangement yields a humanities program of considerable depth while allowing for continued serious commitment to an engineering/science interest. 

MIT's registrar maintains the official requirements for Course 21E and Course 21S Degrees on their website.

Requirements for all 21E and 21S Majors (Joint Degree)

The undergraduate program leading to the degrees of 21E (Humanities and Engineering) or 21S (Humanities and Science) with a focus in music, provides an opportunity to study and combine music with a scientific or engineering field.

The following courses are required for all 21E/S majors
 
Number Title Units
21M.301* Harmony and Counterpoint I 12
21M.401-499 Performance (two semesters) 2 x 6

 

Students must select one of the following 12 unit classes

Number Title
21M.220 Medieval and Renaissance Music (CI-M)
21M.235 Baroque and Classical Music (CI-M)
21M.260 Music since 1900 (CI-M)

 

Students must select one of the following 12 unit classes
Number Title
21M.291 Music of India
21M.292 Musics of Bali
21M.293 Musics of Africa
21M.294 Popular Musics of the World
21M.297J Cultures of Popular Music in East Asia
21M.299 Studies in Global Musics

 

*Students who enter with additional training in music theory should take 21M.302 or an upper-level course as a substitute for 301
Students will take an additional 48 units beyond these requirements, which will be chosen in consultation with the major advisor.

One of the Communication Intensive classes will be from the 21M curriculum, the other will be from the science or enginnering field. Ideally, some of the subjects in the science or engineering program as well as the musical specialty should complement the forms of learning in the other adding cohesion to the program.

Joint majors are discouraged from also double majoring and may not in any case count any class towards both the 21S/E course and towards the other course.

For further information, please contact the majors advisor, Professor Emily Richmond Pollock, pollock@mit.edu