CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Innovation and Experimental Music and the South: Music of the South Conference
The Center for Study of Southern Culture
University of Mississippi
April 3 and 4, 2013
Innovation and Experimental Music and the South: Music of the South Conference
seeks to gather graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars to share current
research on the culture, meaning, and practices surrounding music in and from the
American South. This year’s conference explores the theme of Innovation and
Experimental Music and the South. Specifically, the conference will consider a number
of interrelated issues: How does innovative music originate in the South? Are there
situations in which the South’s established and much-celebrated musical genres (jazz,
blues, country, rock ‘n’ roll, rap, bluegrass, gospel) make it difficult for people to make
innovative music? When and why do musical innovators choose to leave the South, or
come to the South, or use those established genres as a basis for innovation?
The Music of the South Symposium will feature academic panels, photo exhibits, films
about music and live music performance.
Call for Proposals from scholars and musicians: We invite proposals for papers,
panels, and presentations from disciplines that engage with music and the American
South. Papers will be scheduled for 20 minutes, with 10 minutes allotted for Q&A or
audience discussion. Papers should draw from academic research, but be presented for a
general audience interested in the American South and its culture. We invite musicians
who believe they meet the criterion “innovative southern music” and are willing both to
perform and to take part in discussions to submit either a YouTube link (no more than
one) or an mp3 (no more than one) or both. Because of time and space limits, we will
only be able to accommodate a small number of musicians. To submit material or inquire
for more information, please contact Ted Ownby at musicofsouth@olemiss.edu by
January 15, 2013. There is no registration fee for this conference.