Please submit a proposal of 250–400 words at this GoogleForm link describing your proposed contribution and its format. We welcome proposals that do not fit neatly into existing categories.
We are still happy to consider incorporating proposals that are submitted by October 1, 2026 – the sooner you submit, the more likely we can incorporate them into the event.
The GoogleForm will give you the opportunity to indicate any access needs or requests — we will follow up with you directly.
On the form, please tell us if you are interested in contributing in an organizing, curatorial, technical, or accessibility role rather than (or in addition to) presenting.
If you have questions about whether your idea fits, please contact us at AccessForwardMusicology@gmail.com. We would rather hear a tentative idea than have you talk yourself out of proposing.
While we expect that any synchronous components of this event will take place in November 2026, we have not yet determined dates and times; those will be shaped by our curation committee in consultation with presenters.
We welcome proposals on any aspect of access in music-cultural contexts broadly construed. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:
Eligibility requirements, economic barriers, the exploitation of contingent and independent scholars, the gap between musicological labor and institutional support.
Disability studies approaches to music scholarship; crip time and conference culture; neurodivergence and academic knowledge production; anxiety, burnout, and the scholarly body.
How multiple dimensions of identity intersect with access to musicological community; independent scholarship and career paths outside the tenure track; transdisciplinary and community-engaged work.
Accessibility in music events, archives, and publications; adaptive and inclusive music-making; cultural accessibility as a design practice; access-forward approaches to collaboration.
Alternative models for scholarly community, publication, and validation; the future of the field beyond institutional gatekeeping; open-access scholarship and knowledge commons.
We are deliberately open about format. The “unconference” dimension of this event means that some sessions will be organized in advance through this call, while others will be shaped in real time by participants themselves — proposed, formed, and facilitated by whoever shows up with something to say, ask, or share. You are welcome to propose a session format that does not appear below.
If you have been accepted to present at the AMS 2026 online annual meeting or any other conference that you cannot or don’t feel comfortable attending, and would prefer not to pay the conference registration fee in order to do so, you are warmly invited to present at Access Forward Musicology instead. Presenters in this situation will receive guaranteed acceptance as long as they complete the submission form by August 1 and we will do our best to include those who submit later, please see timeline below.
Your scholarship deserves a home that does not require you to subsidize an institution that has not prioritized you.