Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Christopher Washburne, PhD, Columbia University
Dr. Michael N. Shadlen, MD, PhD, Columbia University
And a Jazz Artist-in-Residence at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University
The Columbia University Music Department invites scholars, performers, composers, educators, and interdisciplinary thinkers at all career stages to submit proposals for its annual music studies conference, newly titled Current Musicology Conference. Our theme this year is CO-CREATING: COLLABORATION IN MUSIC STUDIES, as we respond to calls by scholars like Daniel Chua for more collaborative research “to solve bigger issues that cannot be tackled alone.” Embracing the idea of collectivity, we especially encourage projects that combine different methodological, disciplinary, and geographical perspectives in the study of music and sound.
Building on recent efforts to emphasize interdisciplinary conversations—such as The Bloomsbury Handbook of Music and Art as well as Jasmine Henry’s research that re-centers community-based knowledge production through public musicology—we wish to explore collective inquiry into the study and practice of music. We invite applicants to use collaboration as a starting point for new directions in music studies, foregrounding partnerships and interdisciplinarity in current and future research.
Possible submission topics include but are not limited to:
● Collaboration as Current Musicology:
○ Interdisciplinary approaches to musicology, ethnomusicology, and music theory
○ Hermeneutic analysis: intersubjectivity, intertextuality, and related approaches to
musical signification, including topic theory and narrative analysis
○ Disrupting traditional notions of musical authorship and ownership
○ Technology, AI, and their roles in music creation and scholarship
○ Comparative, inter-regional, and transnational projects across cultural contexts
● Collaboration as Methodology:
○ Writing collaborations including multi-author projects
○ Rethinking relationships between researchers and interlocutors
○ Collaborative methods in archival research or curatorial projects
○ Proposals that bridge musical practice with historical, cultural, and artistic
research
● Collaboration as Pedagogy:
○ Teaching examples in which collaboration enriched students’ experiences
○ Community and participatory music practices
○ Collaborative processes in composition, performance, and pedagogy
○ Vertical collaboration and mentorship between professors and students that
destabilizes authority structures
Submission Guidelines:
Proposals of all types will be considered, but we especially encourage them in the form of co-authored papers, group submissions, and panels. Proposals should reflect the collaborative nature of this year’s theme, engaging fields including but not limited to musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology, sound studies, performance, music education, composition, and music technology.
Proposals of no more than 300 words should be emailed to our Program Committee at current-musicology-conf@columbia.edu. Please indicate whether you plan to present in-person or virtually and include a brief biography (100 words) for each presenter.
● For individual/co-authored paper presentations (20 min + 10 min Q&A): please include a 300-word abstract.
● For panel presentations: please include an overview as well as individual abstracts from each contributor (300 words each).
● For other ideas (workshops, performances, etc.): please include as much information as possible.
In your email, please format your submission as follows:
1. The subject of your email should be “Current Musicology Conference 2025 Proposal Submission”
2. In one .doc, .docx, or .pdf file, please include your abstract and DO NOT include your name in the document (for anonymity). Please title this document, “Current Musicology Conference 2025 Proposal”
3. In a separate .doc, .docx, or .pdf file, please include your bio. You will have the opportunity to revise your bio closer to the conference date. Please title this document, “Current Musicology Conference 2025 Bio_LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME”
Submitters should expect a decision on their proposals around early February. For questions or more information, please contact current-musicology-conf@columbia.edu. Join us at Columbia University to explore the transformative potential of collaborative inquiry in music studies. Let’s harmonize our perspectives!