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Course Catalog 2023-2024 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
About the Double Degree Program
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General Educational Guidelines
Double-degree programs must be carefully planned. Music study in the Conservatory is pre-professional study with an organized sequence of courses and requirements designed to prepare students for professional careers in music. The College of Arts and Sciences offers a broad liberal education, thus encouraging intellectual breadth and depth.
It is strongly advised that each double-degree student, at every stage of their Oberlin career, prepare and update a 10-semester course distribution plan of study, and that this plan be regularly reviewed by the student in consultation with their advisors.
Advising for Double-Degree Students
Students admitted to both divisions are assigned advisors as follows:
- For a conservatory performance major, the principal applied study teacher is normally the student’s faculty advisor. For all other conservatory majors, a faculty member from the major department or program is normally assigned as advisor.
- For the College of Arts and Sciences, students are initially assigned advisors, usually in the areas of their possible majors. When the student officially declares the major, an appropriate college faculty advisor is chosen. Whenever possible, advisors are selected who have a particular interest in and knowledge of the concerns of the double-degree student.
Double-degree students should consult with both of their faculty advisors for help in recommending and selecting an appropriate distribution of courses over 10 semesters for majors in the two divisions.
Conservatory English Language Proficiency (ESOL) Requirement
All entering undergraduate students for whom English is a second language will be placed in an ESOL course based upon their Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or Duolingo English Test (DET) score and evaluated for language proficiency during the first week of class. Students may also be asked to take Oberlin’s ESOL placement test, regardless of their TOEFL, IELTS, and/or DET scores. Students are not required to take the general conservatory writing assessment typically administered during Orientation. Adjustments to initial ESOL placement will be based on an assessment of language proficiency and/or supported with documentation of completed college-level ESOL coursework.
Notes:
- ESOL 120 is a prerequisite for MUTH 101 and MUTH 131 , which are the gateway courses to the aural skills and music theory requirement sequences respectively.
- ESOL 130 is a prerequisite for MHST 101 .
- Students who complete the ESOL sequence through ESOL 140 will fulfill the conservatory writing requirement for graduation.
Types of Study Within the Double Degree Program
Students wishing to declare a specific path of study must do so before graduation. Majors, minors, or integrative concentrations may not be declared after a student’s degree is conferred, even if all the requirements were met before graduation.
Major Study
Any student who returns to Oberlin to complete a major after more than four semesters away may be required to follow the requirements in effect at the time the student reenters Oberlin. These requirements may be altered as necessary in individual cases by the departments or programs. The completion of a major is included on the transcript.
 See majors available to students in the Double Degree Program.
Major Study for the BA
To provide depth in their education, students enrolled in the college must elect an area or field in which to do major study. A major allows students to pursue their learning beyond the introductory level, through advanced courses in a discipline, and in many cases in seminars or research courses. There is no thesis requirement at Oberlin, but many majors require students to engage in an extended project of research or creative activity.
Most departments and programs offer one or more majors. Each department or program determines the detailed requirements for completion of the major or majors in that department or program. All majors consist of no fewer than eight full courses or the equivalent, including prerequisites.
The requirements that apply to a student are those published in the most recent edition of this catalog at the time the student submits the declaration form.
Declare a major administered by the college.
Individual Major (BA)
Double-degree students are eligible to declare an individual major in either division.
Students enrolled in the college can also pursue an individual major in an area that is not encompassed in an existing major. With the help of at least two faculty advisors, students wishing to pursue an individual major propose their own program of study. Such proposals are normally submitted by the end of the sophomore year. The program must consist of at least 10 full courses or the equivalent with no more than two full courses or the equivalent below the 200-level, must include courses from more than one department, and usually must not have more than two-thirds of the total full courses or the equivalent in any one department.
Learn more about requirements and guidelines for the individual major.
Honors (BA)
Double-degree students may pursue honors in either division, provided they are eligible according to that honors program’s guidelines.
Many departments and programs offer honors programs to students of proven ability and independence. Departments and programs may open their honors programs to qualified students other than their own majors. Students wishing to enter the honors program should consult the chairperson of the department no later than the beginning of the second semester of the junior year.
Recommendations for the award of honors are made to the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences by departments, by programs with majors, or by the individual major committee. A department or program may recommend any student for honors if that department’s criteria are met, regardless of the student’s specific major. The individual major committee may make such recommendations only for students whose honors work is in the field of their individual majors. The Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences makes the final decisions on all recommendations for honors, maintaining reasonably uniform standards for the award of honors at graduation. An honors candidate whose project demonstrates the requisite degree of excellence is awarded the Bachelor of Arts degree with departmental honors, high honors, or highest honors. The level of honors awarded is recorded on the transcript.
Major Study for the BM
Requirements for each conservatory major are described in the Oberlin College and Conservatory Course Catalog each year.
Students are responsible for compliance with the major requirements as stated in the course catalog in effect when they first matriculate at Oberlin, unless action by an appropriate faculty body specifically directs otherwise. Unless so directed by the faculty body, the student may elect to follow either the requirements in effect when entering Oberlin or those in effect in any subsequent year; however, the student must follow one complete set of requirements. Unless the student notifies the Office of the Registrar to the contrary, the registrar’s office assumes that the student will follow the requirements described in the course catalog for the year the student entered Oberlin.
Major requirements generally consist of course requirements and non-course requirements (such as committees, hearings, portfolio submissions, departmentals, recitals, etc.), which vary by major and by concentration.
See specific degree and credit requirements and the recommended distribution across years of study for completion of various majors.
Declare a major administered by the conservatory.
Change of Studio Within a Major
Any student in a multi-studio department who wishes to request a change of studio must first schedule an appointment with the Conservatory’s Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs to discuss the rationale for such a request. If a possible change seems warranted, the associate dean will instruct the student to meet with the current teacher to attempt to resolve any conflicts. If both the student and teacher agree that the teaching relationship cannot continue, the teacher will sign the change of studio form. The student will take the signed form to the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs. The Associate Dean will make every attempt to place the student in another studio on a space-available basis. Students should not approach another faculty member with a request to change into their studio until the above steps have been completed.
Studio changes normally take effect at the beginning of the academic year; mid-year studio changes are not typically possible. Studio change requests for the next academic year must be made by June 1.
Visit the Conservatory Student Academic Affairs web page for information on requesting an appointment.
Major Status
In addition to enrollment status, which is determined by the number of credits completed towards graduation, the conservatory recognizes major status, which is determined by the requirements completed towards the major in a given semester. Major status for each major is defined in the relevant section of the catalog.
Individual Major (BM)
Double-degree students are eligible to declare an individual major in either division.
An individual major leading to a Bachelor of Music degree may be designed with a concentration in a single conservatory department or among two or more conservatory departments. In some cases, Arts and Sciences courses may be an integral part of a student’s conservatory individual major.
Examples of possible concentrations include liturgical music, Suzuki violin pedagogy, and fortepiano. Programs of study for an individual major must be based on teaching and course resources available at Oberlin or at other schools with courses transferable to Oberlin. Private reading courses may not be planned for key areas of the major and only a small amount of course credit central to the major may be earned away from Oberlin.
Learn more about requirements and guidelines for the individual major.
Minor Study
A student may not pursue a minor in the same subject area in which they have declared a major.
The requirements that apply to a student are those published in the most recent edition of this catalog at the time the student submits the declaration form; however, any student who returns to Oberlin to complete a minor after more than four semesters away may be required to follow the requirements in effect at the time the student reenters Oberlin. These requirements may be altered as necessary in individual cases by the departments or programs. The completion of a minor is included on the transcript.
See minors available to students in the Double Degree Program.
Minor Study for the BA
The minor is a way to focus and record a significant area of a student’s work, without the more stringent requirements of a major in that field. After initially declaring a minor, a student may subsequently elect a different minor and/or drop the previously declared minor with the consent of the heads of the departments or programs involved. Students may pursue a minor in more than one department or program, but normally may not pursue more than one minor within a department or program.
Many departments and programs offer at least one minor. Each department or program determines the detailed requirements for completion of the minor or minors in that department or program. All minors consist of at least four full courses or the equivalent and normally include at least two components of work above the introductory level.
Declare a minor administered by the college.
Minor Study for the BM
Minor requirements generally consist of course requirements and non-course requirements (such as committees, hearings, portfolio submissions, departmentals, recitals, etc.), which vary by minor.
Declare a minor administered by the conservatory.
Interdivisional Minors
Interdivisional minors allow both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music students to deepen and widen their understanding of music by learning about it in a variety of contexts and disciplines. Students can complement their major study with an academic experience that encompasses depth of study in a well-established field with an experimental curriculum in an emerging area. Interdivisional minors are declared using the same process as college minors. The completion of an interdivisional minor is included on the transcript.
Declare an interdivisional minor.
Integrative Concentration Study
Integrative concentrations are educational pathways that connect course work from a range of disciplinary perspectives with experiential learning opportunities such as high-quality internships. Integrative concentrations have two overarching goals:
- enhancing student learning by enriching student’s academic learning with direct practical engagement; and
- helping students explore meaningful career options.
Integrative concentrations are designed to deepen the interplay between ideas learned in the classroom and experiential learning. Toward this end, students are required to reflect on the relationship between the course work (theory) and the experiential learning (practice). This “integrative” requirement is met by completion of a learning portfolio.
Integrative concentrations thus include three components:
- Curricular
- Experiential
- Integrative
Integrative concentrations do not replace majors. They are open to undergraduate students in both the college and the conservatory. The requirements that apply to a student are those published in the most recent edition of this catalog at the time the student submits the declaration form; however, any student who returns to Oberlin to complete an integrative concentration after more than four semesters away may be required to follow the requirements in effect at the time the student reenters Oberlin. These requirements may be altered as necessary in individual cases by the departments or programs. The completion of an integrative concentration is included on the transcript.
See integrative concentrations available to students in the Double Degree Program.
Declare an integrative concentration.
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