Call for Papers – Music and Mediation
Call for Papers
Music and Mediation
Conference at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide
Monday 9–Tuesday 10 June 2025
Keynote speaker: Naomi Sunderland, Director, Creative Arts Research Institute, Griffith University
Deadline for abstracts: Monday 16 December 2024
Mediation, in all its possible senses, from transmission to conflict resolution, is particularly relevant in times of technological innovation, sustainability challenges, forced displacement and struggles for equality or survival. This conference, generously supported by the Musicological Society of Australia (MSA), is concerned with the ways music and the study of music may contribute to the many theories and practices around mediation.
We invite proposals from all disciplines, for panels, individual papers, and roundtable discussions addressing one of more of these themes:
1. Music and conflict resolution
What roles can music play in contexts of conflict, post-conflict and the negotiations of improved relations and potential healing? From interpersonal relationships to community divisions, industrial relations and postwar societies, music may enable the articulation of unspoken emotions and the promotion of mutual understanding and recognition. Is 'resolution' always possible or are there other ways of surviving conflict and trauma with or through music?
2. Sustaining and building connections through music
How does music contribute to connections – or disconnections – across space and time? When relationships are disputed, e.g. by migration, displacement or social change, how do musical practices sustain those relationships and/or build new connections with people and places? Related topics include the roles of music in cultural traditions, memory, environmental sustainability, sociopolitical movements, community health and wellbeing.
3. Transmission and pedagogy of music
New technologies and mobilities have made some music more accessible in more places than ever before. What are the effects and conditions of this accessibility? Is 'other' music overlooked in the process? How are musical ideas mediated? What are the roles of technology, media, composition, performance, instrument/equipment design, venues, infrastructure and educational methods?
4. Cultural mediation
What mediating roles does music play in literature, theatre, film, television, radio, audio/visual arts and gaming? How do interactive cultural forms shape related musical practices? How does music shape and contribute to translations and adaptations?
5. Influencing
Music and dance are central features in the world of influencing, from social media and advertising to government and election campaigns. How do music and dance 'influence' listeners and viewers in such areas as lifestyle, fashion, body image, spending habits, voting practices and political action?
6. Histories
Music histories enjoy great popularity, from biopics, curated playlists, tributes and social media galleries to memoirs, authorised and unauthorised biographies and analytical accounts. What forms of mediation emerge from historical analysis, narratives about music and musical narratives?
7. Entanglements
Are notions of music and mediation problematic? Since Adorno, scholars have devised many new ways of understanding music's multiple entanglements. Topics may include music and accountability, materiality, relationality, constellations and the destabilisation of boundaries.
8. Other: new research beyond the above categories.
Submit proposals here for panels (3 or 4 presenters), individual papers, roundtable discussions or workshops. For individual papers and for each presenter on a panel, a 250-word abstract is required. For roundtable discussions and workshops, one abstract is required for the whole session. Papers will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10 minutes' Q&A. Online participation is available.
Deadline for abstracts: Monday 16 December 2024
Notification of acceptance: Monday 30 December 2024
Registration: Salaried academics: A$88 [= approximately US$59, EUR 54)
Registration for all other delegates is free, thanks to the support of the MSA and the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Registration includes morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea on both days.
Publication: Presenters will be invited to submit article submissions for a special issue of a journal.
Keynote speaker Professor Naomi Sunderland is a proud descendant of the Wiradjuri First Nations People of Australia alongside her mixed European heritage. Naomi has an expansive research and publishing record in arts-health, well-being, and First Nations social justice with a particular focus on creative, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed research approaches.
More invited speakers and special guests to be announced soon!
Enquiries: Please email the convenor, Gay Breyley (Elizabeth Wood Research Fellow in Musicology), at gay.breyley@adelaide.edu.au.
This event is generously supported by the Musicological Society of Australia's Special Funding Scheme. The conference stems from a research project that is generously supported by the Elizabeth Wood Fellowship in Musicology at the Elder Conservatorium of Music.