The interdisciplinary program in Applied Intercultural Arts Research (AIAR) program is managed by the Graduate College and offers a Master of Arts and a PhD in partnership with six other academic colleges: Education, Fine Arts, Humanities, Science, Social and Behavioral Science, and Public Health.
Students in the AIAR PhD program are required to develop a strong secondary area of expertise in a discipline relating to their research agenda. For example, a student interested in questions of music cognition, such studying whether different kinds of music may help stroke patients regain speech abilities, would take courses in neuroscience, psychology, and/or cognitive sciences.
The aim of the program is to prepare graduates for the application of knowledge of music, arts and culture to contemporary problem-solving to enhance the health and well-being of individuals, societies, and environments in an interconnected world. A core component of the curriculum for this degree is coursework in ethnomusicology.