The Department of Music at Kenyon College aims to increase a student's sense of the richness and importance of music in the human experience. Because music is embedded in issues such as identity, ritual, politics, and aesthetics--to name just a few--it becomes a gateway for students to understand themselves and the world around them.
The Department offers a curriculum by which students can explore any or all facets of the discipline. Whether the student opts for classes in ethnomusicology, musicology, music theory, or applied study, the coursework emphasizes the interconnectedness of listening, creativity, and critical thinking by which students become more articulate practitioners of the musical arts.
Majors acquire expertise in all these areas of music; non-majors in one or more areas. Majors will be prepared for a music career (should they wish it); minors and all other students will gain music experiences that prepare them for an enriched life.
The Department of Music is part of the interdisciplinary activity of the college through participation in, specifically, the Women's and Gender Studies program, German Area Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, dance and drama productions, and through the use of historical, anthropological, scientific, and sociological methods of inquiry.