CFP: The U2 Conference 2013 / U2: TRANS-

Call for Proposals, Panels, & Chairs

The U2 Conference 2013, Cleveland, Ohio, April 26-27, 2013

www.U2conference.com

The U2 Conference will hold its second meeting for an international
gathering of scholars, critics, teachers, and fans in collaboration
with
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, April
26-27, 2013. The keynote speaker is Ann Powers, popular music critic
for
National Public Radio. The inaugural 2009 meeting drew a
multi-disciplinary group from seven countries and featured over 40
formal presentations, three films, and a weekend of networking
opportunities. It also produced the edited collection of essays
Exploring U2: Is This Rock ‘n’ Roll? (Scarecrow Press, 2011).

The 2013 conference theme is “U2: TRANS-,” indicating an interest
in U2 as going across, over, and beyond boundaries in rock and roll
and
working toward making moments of passing through or crossing over
possible for fans as well as for the band itself. Conference
organizers
suggest a focus on TRANS- concepts such as transform, transgress,
translate, and transcend, but encourage proposals on other related
concepts applicable to U2 and popular music studies, such as
transition,
trans-Atlantic, transact, transport, transfix, and transparent.
Proposals on other general topics are welcomed too. There will be
parallel tracks for both academic and popular audiences, which will be
open to all attendees.

With each album and tour over the past three decades, most recently
the
album No Line on the Horizon and the 360° Tour, U2 has presented
scholars and fans new opportunities to explore the band’s work and
influence in the areas of music, performance, technology, commerce,
art,
design, film, theater, popular culture, literature, politics and
advocacy, and theology and spirituality. Rather than remaining
stagnant
or occupying a niche, U2 has reconstructed their images over time as
individuals and a band, on artistic, professional, and political
levels,
raising questions such as, but not limited to:

- What is the nature of this metamorphosis?
- How and where are these conversions evident?
- What effect does U2’s changes have on their audience and the
audience have on U2’s changes?
- How does the band translate its experience of contemporary Ireland
and the world into its music and tours?
- How has U2 mediated other artistic and music genres into its work?
- How does the band negotiate the boundaries of its subject matter and
audience?
- How has U2 maintained relevance within a changing music business?
- When and how has U2 transgressed a boundary, and to what effect?
- In what ways does the U2 fan and concert experience rise above the
corporeal, liminal, and temporal?

Individual presenters should submit a paper title, 250-word abstract,
and presenter information including full name, institutional
affiliation, contact information, and a one-page CV. Individual
presentations should be designed to last 15 minutes. Panel proposals
should specify either three or four presenters and should be designed
to
finish within 60 minutes, and should include both a 125-word overview
for the panel and 250-word abstracts for each presentation, along with
each presenter’s information including full name, institutional
affiliation, contact information, and a one-page CV. Please send
abstracts and vitae as separate documents for panel proposals.

The proposal deadline is December 1, 2012. Submit proposals to
academicproposals2013@U2conference.com Selections and notifications
will be made in early December. Presenters are expected to pay the
registration fee.

Call for Panel Chairs: Those interested in chairing an academic
audience session should also submit by December 1 a separate proposal
including name, institutional affiliation, contact information, a
one-page CV, and a 250-word statement indicating your interest and
qualification for chairing a session at the U2 Conference. Chairs are
expected to pay the registration fee. Panel Chair proposals should be
sent to academicproposals2013@U2conference.com

Conference programmers are also developing a parallel track of
presentations of interest to a popular audience and have issued a
similar call for presentations at
http://u2conference.com/popular-audience-cfp/

Sincerely,

Dr. Scott Calhoun
Conference Director
Professor of English, Cedarville University
contact@U2conference.com
www.U2conference.com