The Music History-Literature degree prepares students for entrance into graduate programs and careers in musicology and college teaching, as well as music criticism, broadcasting, publishing, and library/archival science. The major also offers opportunities for interdisciplinary study.

Johann S. Buis, Associate Professor of Musicology, held positions at the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR), Columbia College Chicago and the University of Georgia, where he was tenured in musicology. He holds degrees and diplomas from London University, Ball State University, the University of Cape Town, and the Orff Institute, Mozarteum Academy, Salzburg, among others. He held a Fulbright Fellowship in 1982-83 and was a Rockefeller Resident Research Fellow during 1995-96 at the CBMR. His scholarship ranges from early music performance history to the aesthetics and reception history of black music between the United States and urban centers in Africa. He has had articles and reviews published in College Music Symposium, Issue, Ethnomusicology, Early Music America, MLA Notes, and other periodicals, and he was a co-author with Art and Margot Rosenbaum of Shout Because You're Free! The Ring Shout Tradition in Coastal Georgia (University of Georgia Press, 1998). During the last several years he has been very active in interdisciplinary scholarship integrating musicology, ethnomusicology, and cultural theory. He has been in demand as a lecturer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other organizations. In addition, he held seminars in the USA, the Caribbean, and Germany. His professional activities include service on standing committees of the American Musicological Society (AMS) and the Society for American Music (SAM). His international activities include conference and seminar presentations, consultation, and service as an external examiner for doctoral dissertations.

Jonathan Saylor, Associate Professor of Music History-Literature and Bassoon, completed a degree in bassoon performance from Wheaton, and his MA and PhD in musicology from Boston University. Dr. Saylor has studied bassoon with R. Platz, W. Elliot, R. Nakagawa, L. Sharrow, J. Miller, and has participated in master classes with S. Walt and M. Turkovic. He has performed in the Thousand Oaks and Aspen Music Festivals. Dr. Saylor was solo bassoonist with Alea III both in Boston and their numerous tours of Greece; he was also a member of the prize-winning Boston Wind Quintet, in residence at Boston University. Dr. Saylor has performed with the Costa Rican National Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Portland and New Hampshire Symphony Orchestras, Monadnock Summer Festival, Pittsburgh Ballet, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Symphony of the Shores and is a member of Trius Musicus.