J. (Si) Millican, Ph.D.
Professor, Instrumental Music Education, Music
Contact
- MB 3.108
- 210-458-5334
- si.millican@utsa.edu
Bio
Si Millican joined the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007. He teaches courses in Music Education and works extensively with the Institute for Music Research. Dr. Millican was born and raised in Texas and graduated from Temple (TX) High School. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Instrumental Music Education from the University of North Texas in Denton where he studied clarinet with Dr. John Scott and Dr. James Gillespie. His concentration at the University of North Texas was Instrumental Conducting; his primary instructors in this area were Dr. Robert Winslow, Dennis Fisher, and Eugene Corporon.
For thirteen years prior to his university work, Dr. Millican was a public-school teacher in the Arlington, Lewisville, and Belton school districts teaching at the high-school and middle-school levels. His concert, marching, and jazz bands performed at a consistently high level. While at Lamar Middle School, the Symphonic Band was a Texas State Honor Band finalist twice. At Belton High School, the Marching 100 made it to the State Marching Contest twice and finished as high as sixth place in class 4A. Dr. Millican received a Ph.D. in Music Education from The University of Oklahoma in Norman. While at OU, Dr. Millican studied conducting with Dr. William K. Wakefield and worked extensively in the music education department with Dr. Michael Raiber and Dr. Nancy Barry.
Dr. Millican is the author of Starting Out Right: Beginning Band Pedagogy which is published by Scarecrow Press and has chapters published in Musicianship-Focused Curriculum and Assessment and the Oxford Handbook of Preservice Music Teacher Education in the United States. Millican’s research focuses on the pedagogical content knowledge for teaching music. He has presented his research at the Symposium for Music Teacher Education, The National Association for Music Education National Conference, and several state music organizations. His scholarly work has appeared in the Journal of Music Teacher Education; Update: Applications of Research in Music Education; and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education among others. He has also published in The Instrumentalist, Southwestern Musician, Bandmasters Journal, and School Band and Orchestra. Dr. Millican’s dissertation launched his interest in pedagogical content knowledge and is titled Secondary Instrumental Music Teachers’ Evaluation of Essential Knowledge and Skills for Successful Teaching. A complete list of his scholarly work can be found at Academia.edu.
Dr. Millican served on the Executive Board of the Texas Music Educators Association as the College Division Vice-President from 2016 to 2018. He also was a reviewer of primary research articles while serving on the Editorial Board of Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. He remains an active clinician and adjudicator across the state of Texas and is on the Active Concert Band list of the Texas Music Adjudicators Association
Teaching
Courses:
- MUS 3491 Instrumental Techniques for Voice Majors
- C&I 4203 Models of Teaching Instrumental Music
- C&I 4213 Approaches to Teaching Music
- MUS 4531 Music Pedagogy (Instrumental)
- MUS 4452 Marching Band Techniques
- IDS 2013 Introduction to Learning and Teaching Music
- MUS 3312 Music Technology for Educators
Research Interests
- Music Teacher Education
- Pedagogical Content Knowledge
- Core Teaching Practices
- Instrumental Music Education
- Middle School Education
- Wind Band Conducting
Degrees
- Ph.D, The University of Oklahoma (2007)
- MME The University of North Texas (1994)
- BME The University of North Texas (1990)
