Call for Papers

Feminist Theory and Music (FT&M) 17 on the theme of “Urgency” 

Conference Dates: June 20–22, 2024

Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Abstract Submission Date: All proposals should be submitted on or before 11:59 p.m. (EDT) on November 30, 2023 to kjfourni@umich.edu

Conference Theme:

Now in its third decade, the Feminist Theory & Music Conference highlights work at the intersections of gender, sexuality, and music. Building on the previous conference’s theme of “Connections,” the 2024 conference seeks to leverage those relationships and connections to interrogate questions of urgency. “Urgency” here can refer to the immediacy of our contemporary political and historical moment, and our need to respond thoughtfully but without hesitation. We also use “urgency” to evoke the false sense of immediacy often imposed within institutions–such as the neoliberal university–that demands so much of our time and labor. We imagine this gathering as a space to come together to amplify issues of urgency across our various home disciplines. We hope that this conference theme will offer pathways out of the isolation that many minoritized scholars can feel as we struggle with urgency on our campuses, in our positions, in our daily lives, our communities, and practice and research. The conference will feature a keynote address by Dr. Nancy Rao, author of Chinatown Opera Theater in North America (Illinois University Press, 2017), and an afternoon concert with pianist Ellen Rowe drawing on her recent project, “Momentum: Portraits of Women in Motion” (2019). Please find more information about both of these guests here.

The program committee welcomes proposals for presentations that explore topics that include (but are not limited to):

• Music related to the urgency of the current political moment, nationally and globally;

• Increasing anti-LGBTQ, especially anti-trans, legislation and musical responses;

• Threats to bodily autonomy and reproductive justice in a post-Roe v. Wade U.S;

• Antiracism, Black Lives Matter, and accompanying movements

• Recent Supreme Court rulings on Affirmative Action and the future of higher education;

• Employing feminist theories in music in the classroom, research, communities, and institutions;

• Music and expressions of toxic masculinity, Trumpism, and their alternatives; 

• Academic and other labor movements as feminist movements; 

• Locally-grounded topics of music, activism, and history pertinent to the Ann Arbor or Metro Detroit area; and,

• Reaching across borders, building bridges, finding commonalities, and honoring differences.

Proposal Guidelines:

We invite submissions from artists, activists, and scholars at any stage of their careers, including undergraduate and graduate students, and especially encourage submissions from people working outside of the academy. We welcome proposals for a range of presentation formats, including (but not limited to): 

• Individual Papers (20 minutes)

  • 250-word abstract

• Themed Panels of Papers (90 to 120 minutes)

  • 250-word abstract plus ~150-word abstracts from each proposed participant

• Performances or Lecture-Demonstrations (45 minutes)

  • 250-word abstract

• Workshops (45 or 90 minutes)

  • 250-word abstracts

• Roundtable Conversations (90 minutes)

  • 250-word roundtable abstract plus ~150-word abstracts from each proposed participant

• Seminars with Pre-Conference Circulation of Materials (90 minutes)

  • 250-word seminar abstract