SEM 50th Annual Conference -- Call for Papers

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Call for Papers

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2005 Call for Papers

The Society for Ethnomusicology will hold its 50th annual meeting November 16-20, 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Sheraton Colony Square. Our host will be Emory University. There will be a pre-conference symposium on November 16, 2005, on the topic Race and Place: Invoking New Music Identity.

This meeting marks a very special milestone, the fiftieth anniversary of the Society’s founding in 1955. Our meeting in Atlanta will celebrate this anniversary by reflecting on our history and anticipating our future. We will also welcome the kinds of events and presentations that members normally expect at an annual meeting.

The annual Charles Seeger lecture will be delivered by Tony Seeger.

The conference theme is SEM at 50, with the following sub-themes:

The history of ethnomusicology. This is part of our looking to the past, tracing how we’ve gotten to where we’ll be in 2005. This is admittedly a very broad topic, but one that should encourage an intriguing array of papers.
The history of SEM. This is also open-ended, ideally leading to varied kinds of papers as well. We might add, to the extent they have connections with SEM, the history of other learned societies.

If looking backward is instructive, so is looking around us at the contemporary scene. This suggests the following:
Areas neglected by SEM and ethnomusicology generally, such as approaches to research and analysis, or those traditions that survive and thrive “under the radar” without our realizing it.

Birthdays happen, life moves on. Implicit in the themes just mentioned is this notion:
Contemplations on our future, which might include thought-pieces or exhortations on directions ethnomusicology and SEM should take in our next half-century.

A couple of themes follow logically from where we’ll be meeting in 2005:
African American music
Musical cultures of Georgia and the Southeast

And two more sub-themes, last but certainly not least:
Advocacy and cultural democracy. When musicians and musical communities want equal time and equal opportunity, what should ethnomusicologists do?
Diverse voices. This sub-theme is inspired by the excellent and spirited roundtable organized for our 2004 meeting.

Proposals on any other topics relevant to the field of ethnomusicology are also welcome. The online and postmark deadline for submission of SEM proposals is Tuesday, March 15, 2005.

The SEM 2005 Program Committee consists of Samuel Araujo (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Jackie DjeDje (University of California, Los Angeles), Charlotte Frisbie (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville), Nancy Guy (University of California, San Diego), Robin Moore (Temple University), and Isabel Wong (University of Illinois), with Judith McCulloh and Bruno Nettl (University of Illinois) as co-chairs. Kay Shelemay (Harvard University), who chaired the committee that laid the groundwork for the commemorative part of the 2005 program, and Larry Witzleben (The Chinese University of Hong Kong), chair of the 2004 program committee, serve as advisors to the 2005 program committee. A subcommittee, comprised of Jackie DjeDje, Charlotte Frisbie, Isabel Wong, Kay Shelemay (advisor), and Bruno Nettl (chair) is in charge of planning special events commemorating the founding of SEM and related matters.

For further questions about the program for SEM 2005, please contact:

Judith McCulloh
University of Illinois Press
1325 South Oak Street
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: (217) 244-4681
Fax: (217) 244-8082, Attn: Judith McCulloh
Email: jmmccull@uillinois.edu

Or, for the special commemorative aspects of our 2005 meeting:

Bruno Nettl
School of Music
University of Illinois
1114 West Nevada Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 333-9613
Fax: (217) 244-4585
Email: b-nettl@uiuc.edu

Do not send proposals or abstracts to either address. Please see the Call for Papers forms for the proper address.

If you are interested in participating in the pre-conference symposium on Wednesday, November 16, 2005, Race and Place: Invoking New Music Identity, please contact:

Dwight D. Andrews
Department of Music
Burlington Road Building
Emory University
1804 North Decatur Road
Atlanta, GA 30322
Phone: (404) 727-7935
Fax: (404) 727-0074
Email: musicdda@emory.edu

*******************************************************************************************************************

Proposals are invited in nine categories. Please see below for details.

All proposals must include two components--the proposal form and an abstract. When submitting your proposal, first select the appropriate form. Note that two types of forms are used for submitting proposals:

“Individual Presenters Form” for single papers, performances or lecture-demonstrations, film/video programs, and poster session proposals.
“Organized Sessions Form” for organized panels, forums/roundtables, workshops (participatory), films/videos (the film or video itself is the presentation), and poster session proposals.

PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED ON THE “INDIVIDUAL PRESENTERS FORM”:

Single Papers: Individual paper presentations are 20 minutes long and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Individual paper proposals must include:
1. The Individual Presenters Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Performances or Lecture-Demonstrations: Up to one hour long. Proposals must include:
1. The Individual Presenters Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Film/Video Programs: Recently completed or in-progress films or video programs up to two hours long. Sessions may include an introduction and discussion time. Submit titles, subjects, and formats, and indicate the exact duration of the proposed films/videos and introduction/discussion. Proposals must include:
1. The Individual Presenters Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Poster Sessions: Display stations will be set up where presenters can exhibit a variety of work and remain on hand for scheduled two-hour periods for discussion. Displays might include audio-visual presentations of ethnographic work or new analytical or transcription techniques, performances, instrument building, as well as written work made available at the station. Special display requirements (e.g., computer equipment) will be the responsibility of the presenter. Displays should be designed with the other presenters in the room in mind. Proposals must include:
1. The Individual Presenters Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract describing the subject, purpose, and physical/audible characteristics of the display as well as the audio/visual equipment, wall, or table space required. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.

PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED ON THE “ORGANIZED SESSIONS FORM”:

Organized Panels: Organized panel sessions are 90 minutes or two hours long. A 90-minute panel consists of three papers. A two-hour panel consists of either four papers or three papers plus a discussant. Each presentation (a paper or a discussant’s formal response) will be 20 minutes long followed by 10 minutes of questions and general discussion. Panel abstracts will be evaluated individually as well as collectively. The program committee reserves the right to suggest the addition of a panelist where an independently submitted abstract appears to fit a panel. (Those interested in a more flexible format with more participants may want to consider proposing a forum/roundtable.) Proposals for organized panels should be submitted by the panel organizer and must include:
1. The Organized Sessions Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract describing the rationale for the panel as a whole. While the individual abstracts are necessary, the overall panel abstract is the linchpin of the panel.
3. A 250-word maximum abstract for each presenter. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Forums/Roundtables: Forum/Roundtable sessions provide opportunities for participants to discuss a subject with each other and with members of the audience. Sessions of up to two hours long should include at least four but no more than five participants. We encourage formats that stimulate discussion and audience participation. The organizer will solicit position papers of up to 15 minutes from each participant and will facilitate questions and discussion for the remaining time. Proposals for forums/roundtables should be submitted by the session organizer and must include:
1. The Organized Sessions Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract outlining the purpose/agenda and organization of the session, as well as the anticipated contributions of its members. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Workshops (participatory): Informal, interactive roundtable (maximum six participants) on one topic, 90 minutes or two hours long. The organizer must submit:
1. The Organized Sessions Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract describing the subject, a list of participants, and the time length preferred. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Films/Videos: Recently completed or in-progress films or video programs up to two hours long. Sessions may include an introduction and discussion time. Submit titles, subjects, and formats, and indicate the exact duration of the proposed films/videos and introduction/discussion. The organizer must submit:
1. The Organized Sessions Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract describing the subject and a list of participants. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Poster Sessions: Display stations will be set up where presenters can exhibit a variety of work and remain on hand for scheduled two-hour periods for discussion. Displays might include audio/visual presentations of ethnographic work or new analytical or transcription techniques, performances, instrument building, as well as written work made available at the station. Special display requirements (e.g., computer equipment) will be the responsibility of the presenter. Displays should be designed with the other presenters in the room in mind. Proposals must include:
1. The Organized Sessions Form
2. A 250-word maximum abstract describing the subject, purpose, and physical/audible characteristics of the display as well as the audio/visual equipment, wall, or table space required. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ABSTRACTS: Abstracts should demonstrate a clear focus or statement of the problem, a coherent argument, knowledge of previous research, and a statement of the implications for ethnomusicology. To permit blind evaluation, please type your name and institutional affiliation (for session abstracts, the session organizer’s name) in the top left-hand corner of the abstract. Then triple space and type the title of your paper (for session abstracts, the name of the session). Then double space before beginning the body of the abstract. Abstracts should be typed, single spaced, as shown below:

Eise, Harmon (Musica Ficta University)

“Phenomenology and Musical Transcription”

The skill of real-time transcription by ear has long been considered a relic of the ethnomusicological past. Recording technologies long ago made the practice a quaint and forgotten part of the ethnomusicological toolbox. However, I will argue that recording technologies of all kinds and the repeated listenings used when transcribing music in this fashion introduce perceptual artifacts that distort musical realities in ways that significantly alter subsequent analysis. Then, using phenomenological perspectives, I will explore the heightened consciousness that occurs under the conditions of real-time manual transcription and the inevitable experience of full participation that occurs in these endeavors. The results are transcriptions that capture the texture of the “lived-in musical moment” which cannot be created in any other way. Rejecting the practice of converting temporal forms into spatial ones where technological “improvements” attempt to objectify what is ultimately a set of personal experiences, I argue that it is only through manual transcription during the moment of live performance that a researcher can capture the reality of a given musical experience. Repeated and altered listenings start with a consciousness of an artifact that differs significantly from the moment of musical performance and realization, and thus are flawed from the outset. Finally, I not only show how the skill of real-time transcription exposes qualities of the lived musical experience that are otherwise lost, but I also demonstrate methods by which this forgotten craft of early ethnomusicology may be acquired.

Guidelines:

Abstracts must not exceed 250 words. Abstracts over 250 words will not be accepted.
Abstracts must appear as a single paragraph.
Because abstract review is anonymous, do not include your name, the names of other panelists, or the names of fellow researchers in the body of the abstract.

SUBMISSIONS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DEADLINES:

Proposal submissions: We strongly encourage you to submit your abstract using the online form at www.ethnomusicology.org (follow the links to the abstract-submission site), available after January 15, 2005. The deadline for on-line submissions is March 15, 2005.

If you do not have access to the internet, mail your form and abstract to the address listed below, postmarked by March 15, 2005.

Address for submissions:

  *Online: http://www.conferences.indiana.edu/sem2005/AbstractSubmission.htm

  *Postal mail: Indiana University Conferences
             Attn.: SEM 2005 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
             110 One City Center
             Bloomington, IN 47404 USA

Deadline for submissions: All submissions must be postmarked or submitted online by the published deadline—Tuesday, March 15, 2005—or the abstract will not be reviewed.

Charles Seeger Prize: Students interested in having a paper considered for the Charles Seeger Prize should consult the guidelines in this issue of the SEM Newsletter on the SEM website.

Pre-registration fees: Following SEM policy, all participants whose proposals have been accepted for the program must be SEM members and must pre-register for the meeting by August 2, with the exception of scholars residing outside the United States and Canada, who may elect to pay their fees at the meeting itself. SEM members whose proposals have been accepted will be sent pre-registration materials around May 15, at the time of notification of their acceptance to the program. If by June 15 you have not received a letter from the program committee indicating whether or not your abstract was accepted, please contact Jennifer Gentry, Conference Coordinator, at Indiana University Conferences, semconf@indiana.edu.

Limit on the number of presentations: SEM policy specifies that each presenter may give one paper OR act as a discussant for a panel OR participate in one forum/workshop OR present one film/video program during the regular sessions. Presenters may, however, also serve as chair of a panel or a forum/workshop.

Cancellations and no-shows: No-shows inconvenience the chair, discussant, fellow panelists, and audience members attending the session. Participants who discover they are unable to attend the meeting should notify the program committee immediately. As a general rule, SEM does not allow someone else to read your paper in your absence. Pre-registration cancellations made after October 1 will not qualify for a refund.

Special requests: Please indicate potential scheduling conflicts. If notified in advance, the program committee will attempt to accommodate requests but cannot guarantee a particular time slot.

Timetable:

March 15	Postmark and online-submission deadline for all SEM proposals
May 29	Notifications of acceptances mailed (including preliminary sessions and times) with pre-registration materials
August 2	Deadline for receipt of pre-registration fees from SEM members whose proposals were accepted
October 1	Deadline for presenter cancellation and refund of pre-registration fees from SEM members whose proposals were accepted (minus a $35 handling fee)
October 15	Registration cancellation refund deadline for nonpresenters (minus a $35 handling fee)

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