The Gender and Sexualities Taskforce (GST) plans to sponsor one or more organized panels at the Society for Ethnomusicology's 53rd annual meeting to be held October 25-28, 2008, at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.
Interested scholars should submit proposals directly to the GST that relate both to the GST's mission and the conference themes (see below); we seek both
(1) organized panels of three or four papers
(2) individual papers that we can group into organized panels
SEM's submission deadline is March 15, 2008; in order to meet that submission deadline, GST should receive proposals for GST-sponsored panels by March 1, 2008. Please email your proposals to Henry Spiller (hjspiller@ucdavis.edu).
The Gender and Sexualities Taskforce is an SEM Section devoted to encouraging the study of music, gender, and sexuality, and to exploring issues of gender and sexuality as they impact the professional lives of ethnomusicologists. We welcome the participation of scholars conducting research in music and sexualities cross-culturally as well as within their own societies. Our goals include promoting communication and diversity within SEM with special
regard to the concerns of scholars, students, and public sector advocates identifying variously as, but not limited to: lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirited, homosexual, and transgendered. We are concerned about widely diverse issues, including increased life chances and professional advancement, for members of these constituencies across lines of nation, religion, gender, race, class, and ethnicity. For more information, see the GST's website at
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/music/SEM/SEM_Home.html
The conference theme for the 2008 meeting will be "Ethnomusicology
Beyond Disciplines." Specific themes are:
Ethnomusicology and Advocacy
Musical Innovation and Experimentation
De-Centering the Western Art Music Canon
The Ethnomusicology of Film
Music and Spirituality
Overlooked Musical Traditions
The conference themes intersect well with GST's interests; topics for GST-sponsored panels might include
- advocating for gender/sexualities justice
- queer composers as Others
- gay/lesbian musical subcultures
Abstracts should conform to SEM's guidelines (one paragraph of no more than 250 words, devoid of names or other identifying information).
SEM's complete call for papers and submission instructions and guidelines are available at
http://www.indiana.edu/~ethmusic/documents/SEM2008_call_for_presentations_12_19_07.pdf
