Revised Call for Submissions (42nd Annual Conference, 9-13 March 2016, Boston)

The following revised call for submissions for our 2016 Boston conference now includes THREE seminar topics.  Thanks to the program committee for noticing an error in the submission process for seminar topics (a technological issue involving email filters that has been corrected for future conferences).  The following THREE seminar topics have been approved for the Boston conference:

Music, American Animation, and Society

Women Composers of American Art Music: Boston and Beyond

Music for Silent Film

Please help us by forwarding this revised call for submissions to your friends and colleagues.

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42nd Annual Conference – (Revised) Call For Submissions

Boston, MA
9-13 March 2016

The Society for American Music invites proposals for (a) individual papers, (b) organized panels of 3-4 papers, (c) lecture-recitals, (d) written papers related to the three seminar topics, (e) scholarly posters, and (f) interest groups for its 41st Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts to be held 9-13 March 2016. All proposals must be submitted via the SAM web site by 11:59 pm PDT 1 June 2015.

We welcome proposals involving all facets of musical life throughout the Americas, and about American music and aspects of its cultures anywhere in the world. We especially welcome those submissions that emphasize the cultural diversity in Boston/New England which has vibrant Irish, Latin, Caribbean, jazz, gospel, and Native American scenes in addition to rich classical and folk music traditions. We would also be interested in receiving any proposals related to the wide-ranging musical activities of our newest honorary member, Terri Lyne Carrington.

A copy of the call for submissions is attached.  The same information is available on the SAM website: http://www.american-music.org/conferences/Boston/index.php 

42nd Annual Conference – (Revised) Call For 

Submissions

Boston, MA

9-13 March 2016

The Society for American Music invites proposals for (a) individual papers, (b) 

organized panels of 3-4 papers, (c) lecture-recitals, (d) written papers related to 

one of the seminar topics, (e) scholarly posters, and (f) interest groups for its 41st 

Annual Conference in Boston, Massachusetts to be held 9-13 March 2016. All 

proposals must be submitted via the SAM web site by 11:59 pm PDT 1 

June 2015.

We welcome proposals involving all facets of musical life throughout the 

Americas, and about American music and aspects of its cultures anywhere in the 

world. We especially welcome those submissions that emphasize the cultural 

diversity in Boston/New England which has vibrant Irish, Latin, Caribbean, jazz, 

gospel, and Native American scenes in addition to rich classical and folk music 

traditions. We would also be interested in receiving any proposals related to the 

wide-ranging musical activities of our newest honorary member, Terri Lyne 

Carrington.

A. Individual Papers

Paper sessions (assembled by the Program Committee after the selection of 

abstracts) may contain anywhere from two to four presentations. Each 

presentation lasts 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Note: the 

website submission process enables you to select whether you wish to have your 

submission considered as a paper, as a research poster (see E below), or as a 

presentation in either format.

B. Panels of 3-4 Papers

Groups of three-four presenters may propose a panel. Panels will be accepted or 

rejected in toto. (The Program Committee will not break up panels in order to 

accept individual papers.) Those wishing to propose a panel should submit:

(1) a proposal for the panel as a whole; and 

(2) individual proposals from each presenter. 

Ideally, one person should submit all of the relevant materials.

C. Lecture-Recitals

Proposals for lecture-recitals of music from anywhere in the Americas are 

welcome. These recitals may range in length from thirty to forty-five 

minutes and should offer an appropriate balance of lecture and performance 

elements. Various constraints limit the number of lecture-recitals that may be 

programmed this year. Applicants should specify the length in their abstracts. 

Applicants must also include in the body of their proposal a link to an 

online audio or video file that is representative of the proposed recital 

content, as well as a list of any special needs (e.g., piano, music stand, space for 

dance demonstration, choral risers).

D. Seminar-format session

The seminar-format session is devoted to a moderated discussion of a set of 

written papers submitted in advance and posted on the SAM website two weeks 

prior to the conference. At the session itself, each presenter will summarize 

his/her paper for five minutes only. Attendees are expected to have read the 

papers in advance. The topics selected for the 2016 meeting are: 

Music, American Animation, and Society

Women Composers of American Art Music: Boston and Beyond

Music for Silent Film

Those wishing to participate in one of the three seminars should submit a 250-

word proposal based on their paper, clearly designating the seminar topic for 

which the proposal should be considered.

Although papers for the seminar will not be “read” at the meeting in the traditional 

sense, the act of participating in the seminar as a presenter and defending the ideas 

of one’s paper constitutes the same level of participation in an academic conference 

as a traditional paper. For this reason, those submitting abstracts toward one of 

the seminars cannot also submit toward a regular session.

E. Research Poster Sessions

The poster format provides an opportunity for SAM members to meet informally 

with scholars and discuss their research. Each scholar attends her/his respective 

90-minute session, distributes abstracts, and answers questions. Power will

not be available; therefore, sound or video examples will require a personal 

computer utilizing battery, rather than AC. Poster sessions are not 

moderated. Note: the website submission process enables you to select 

whether you wish to have your submission considered as a paper 

(see A above), as a research poster, or as a presentation in either format.

Learn more about the poster format.

F. Interest Groups (IGs)

Interest Groups meet at the SAM conference on a predetermined 

rotation schedule overseen by the Board of Directors. IGs must 

submit proposals through the SAM Web site by the 1 June 

deadline. Groups with a guaranteed slot for 2016 will be included in the 

program as long as they submit a brief description of their plans by the deadline. 

IG sessions are not intended to mirror conventional panels featuring a set of 20-

minute papers; instead, IG proposals should pursue alternate formats including, 

but not limited to, roundtable discussions, sessions combining performance and 

scholarship, sessions discussing a significant publication, and sessions centered 

on a key debate. Alternatively, IGs may submit proposals for a panel (see the 

instructions in B above), but acceptance or rejection will be at the discretion of 

the Program Committee and IGs will not have priority above other “panel” 

submissions.

General Guidelines

In order to have a proposal considered for any of these formats, the proposer 

must be a member of the Society for American Music. The committee particularly 

encourages proposals from those who did not present at the 2015 Sacramento 

meeting. An individual may submit only one proposal. All proposals must be 

submitted through the online electronic submission process on the SAM web site.

The submission form on the SAM web site will ask for the following information:

1. Proposer’s name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation or city of 

residence, affirmation of SAM membership, and current status (student, 

faculty member, librarian, independent scholar, etc.) Only the chair of the 

Program Committee will see this information and it will in no way affect 

the selection process. (Proposers are asked for their “status” only for 

statistical purposes. This information will not be used by the Program 

Committee as a criterion for acceptance. Students accepted for 

presentations, however, may be notified of their eligibility for Student 

Travel Grants and the Mark Tucker Award.)

2. A 250-word proposal. This document is the only one viewed by the 

Program Committee prior to the selection process. Applicants 

should not include in the abstract any information that identifies 

themselves (such as “I have just published a book on this subject,” 

for instance). An exception is made with regard to lecture-recital 

proposals which must include links to audio or visual files that 

might reveal the proposer's identity. Successful proposals typically 

articulate the author’s major arguments and research findings, 

positioning them with respect to earlier work and describing their 

importance to scholarship in American music.

3. A 100-word abstract of the proposal suitable for publication 

in the conference program if the proposal is accepted 

(.doc, .docx, .txt, or .rtf format). Include in this document 

the proposer's name and email, as well as the title of the 

presentation. Program Committee members will not see 

this document prior to the selection process.

4. A list of keywords for individual paper proposals to aid the Program 

Committee in forming paper sessions.

5. Audio and visual needs: please specify your exact A/V requirements, such 

as CD player, DVD player, and digital projector. Due to logistics and the 

high cost of renting this equipment, we cannot accommodate AV changes 

after a proposal is accepted.

All materials must be submitted via the SAM web site by 11:59 pm PDT 1 June 

2015. Questions about the submission process may be addressed to Program 

Chair Lydia Hamessley at lhamessl@hamilton.edu.

Decisions

Proposers will be informed of the decisions of the Program Committee in mid-

July. Persons accepted will be asked to confirm within one week their 

commitment to appear at the Boston meeting. Accepted presenters must register 

for the entire conference. In the event of a last-minute emergency, presenters of 

papers are expected to arrange for another attendee to read their papers. 

Presenter cancellation after August 1, 2015 without arrangement for alternative 

presentation will disqualify the applicant from being considered for the 2017 

meeting.

2016 Program Committee

Lydia Hamessley (Hamilton College), chair

Dale Chapman (Bates College)

James Deaville (Carleton University)

Stephanie Jensen-Moulton (Brooklyn College)

Nancy Newman (SUNY-Albany)

Steve Swayne (Dartmouth College)