The Graduate Audio Database Project: A Look into Pragmatic Decision-Making in Postgraduate AE Curricular Design

This paper reports on the first phase of a comparative project to build a Graduate Audio Database (GAD) of North American colleges and universities (N=66) offering 86 Master's degrees. Data came from available information drawn from institutional websites, course descriptions, professional and educational organizations, and targeted keyword searches. Each credential received categorization across seven areas. Results indicate that 38% of institutions list the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) as the most common degree offering and 92% of universities emphasize the creative aspects of audio and sound. This paper explores the role of action research to build an exploratory review of graduate-level audio degrees and reflect on how decision-making affects postgraduate curricular mapping.