Awake and Alive: An Investigation into Content for a Music Course Incorporating the Sciences

The purpose of this qualitative, instrumental case study was to identify the content for an interdisciplinary course about music and the brain that educates collegiate students about the benefits of lifelong music engagement. Despite increasing awareness of musical relevance to the human brain, many institutions of higher learning continue to teach music as its isolated area of study without connecting it to other fields that could benefit from incorporating it or vice versa. The sample size consisted of four to seven experts that were either community experts or Liberty University faculty in the fields of science, medicine, or music within Lynchburg, Virginia. Data was collected through private, audio-recorded, and documented interviews within participants’ professional environments. Data synthesis and thematic analysis were initiated after completion of the first two interviews that were conducted. This was finalized through a debriefing session with the project supervisor. All information, including participant responses, was retained on a password-protected computer or secure USB drive. Research results include a consensus on the substantial relevance of music and the varying amounts of interest among non-music students for a musical-science curriculum. Conclusions drawn from these results include a need for continual research, an expansion of the fields explored that also relate to music, and an established necessity of a musical-science curriculum.