I chose to study Musicology here at the University of Birmingham for many reasons. Firstly, I completed my Bachelor of Music here in 2020 and I had such an amazing experience and didn’t want to leave yet! Secondly, there are so many different modules to take during your degree and the variety of (ethno)musicological content was really appealing to me. Thirdly, the Music Department consists of staff members with specialisations in many different fields which inspired me to work on my Master’s dissertation and start thinking about my further research in the long-term as I pursue a PhD!

The highlight of my course has been being given the skills, guidance, and support from my tutors to write my ethnomusicological dissertation on the Lebanese singer, Fairouz. Despite Arab music being a more niche field of study, I have been wholly supported by my dissertation supervisor and other tutors on my course to pursue this research and this has really strengthened my love and passion for the subject. I have particularly enjoyed the research process for my dissertation as I conducted an interview study where I spoke with members of the Lebanese diaspora and their associations with the music of Fairouz and these interviews were so enlightening. I don’t think I would have been able to do it without my tutors’ continuous support!

One of the best and most practical modules that I have ever been taught as a budding Musicologist is the Music Department’s “Fieldwork Methods” module. Through this module, I have acquired skills that I will use for the rest of my career as we learnt how to conduct (ethno)musicological fieldwork in both a physical setting and a virtual setting. The skills I have gained from this module have proved to be indispensable as I worked on my Master’s dissertation for the rest of the year and I am so glad I took this module!

Life has been great as a student at the University of Birmingham: it has been incredibly busy, but very rewarding. The campus has amazing facilities such as the Main Library which is my favourite study space on campus and the Bramall Music Building which has additional study spaces as well as practice rooms, rehearsal and performance spaces, recording studios, and a fully-equipped teaching studio for composition and music-processing software. The Bramall is one of my favourite buildings on campus as I spent a lot of time there working on my dissertation or other assignments or spending time with my course-mates.

Being a Music student at the University of Birmingham has been great for meeting other musicians and musicologists coming to study in Birmingham from all over the world and I have made so many friends for life. The University of Birmingham has provided me with endless opportunities and being a student there, for four years now, has allowed me to explore so many of them!

The thing I enjoyed most about living and studying in Birmingham must be the sense of community, especially as a Music student. The Music Department may be one of the smaller departments, but it allows us to be more connected: to our course-mates and our tutors! I found myself making friends fast during my MA degree and it was great to meet people on my course with so many different interests and specialisations.

Ever since I started my 1st year of university in 2017 I knew I wanted to do a PhD. However, I wasn’t too sure about what I wanted to work on or research. My Master’s degree at the University of Birmingham has solidified the fact that I want to specialise in ethnomusicology and research Arab popular music. My modules, my tutors, and my course-mates this year have inspired me to go down this path and have provided me with the skills to do so, as well as a great appreciation for the ethnomusicological craft. I have never been more certain of what I want to do with my future career and I attribute a lot of my skill and confidence to the time I spent at the University of Birmingham!