AMS/SMT Indianapolis 2010
Call for Papers
Deadline: 5 p.m. EST,
15 January 2010
The 2010 Annual Meeting of the AMS will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from Thursday, 4 November, to Sunday, 7 November. The Program Committee welcomes proposals for individual papers, formal sessions, evening panel discussions, and sessions using alternative formats in all areas of scholarship on music. For the 2010 Annual meeting, proposal guidelines have been significantly revised, and a new category of submission (alternative-format sessions) added. Please read the guidelines carefully: proposals that do not conform to them will not be considered.
The 2010 meeting will be held jointly with the Society for Music Theory (SMT). The AMS Program Committee warmly invites proposals for papers to be read at joint sessions sponsored by both societies. Follow this link for specific guidelines pertaining to Joint Sessions.
Proposals will be accepted according to the following four categories:
Individual proposals. Proposals should represent the talk as fully as possible. A successful proposal typically articulates the main aspects of the argument or research findings clearly, positions the author’s contribution with respect to earlier work, and suggests the paper’s significance for the AMS community. Authors will be invited to revise their proposals for the Program and Abstracts, distributed at the meeting; the version read by the Program Committee may remain confidential. Maximum length: 350 words.
Formal sessions. An organizer representing several individuals may propose a Formal Session, either a full session of four papers, or a half session of two papers. For this proposal, organizers should prepare a rationale, explaining the importance of the topic and the proposed constituent papers, together with the names of the organizer, participants, respondent (if applicable), and a suggested chairperson. The organizer should also include a proposal for each paper, which conforms to the guidelines for individual proposals above. Formal Session proposals will be considered as a unit, accepted or rejected as a whole. Maximum length: 350 words for the rationale, 350 words for each constituent proposal.
Evening panel discussions. Evening panel discussions are intended to accommodate proposals that are amenable to a more informal exchange of ideas in a public forum than in paper sessions. These can cover a wide range of topics: they may examine a central body of scholarly work, a methodology or critical approach, or lay the groundwork for a new research direction. Such panels should comprise participants’ brief position statements, followed by general discussion among panelists and audience. Panel discussions will be scheduled for the same duration of time as full or half sessions of papers. For this proposal, organizers should outline the rationale and issues behind the proposal, describe the activities envisioned, and explain why each panelist has been chosen. Evening panel discussions will be considered only as a whole. Maximum length: 500 words.
Daytime sessions using alternative formats. The Indianapolis meeting will include six daytime three-hour time blocks utilizing alternative formats, i.e. activities other than “traditional” papers. Both three-hour and ninety-minute sessions may be proposed. Examples of alternative formats include, but are not limited to, sessions combining performance and scholarship, sessions discussing an important publication, sessions featuring debate on a controversial issue, and sessions devoted to discussion of papers posted online before the meeting. Sessions may be proposed by an individual or group of individuals, by a Study Group, by a smaller society that has traditionally met during the Annual Meeting, or by an AMS committee wishing to explore scholarly issues. Proposals for alternative format sessions should outline the intellectual content of the session, the individuals who will take part, and the structure of the session. Maximum length: 500 words.
Length of presentations: Forty-five minutes are allotted for each individual proposal and constituent formal session proposal. The length of presentations is limited to thirty minutes in order to allow ample time for discussion. Formal sessions must observe the forty-five-minute slots for paper presentation and discussion. Position papers delivered as part of evening panel discussions should be no more than ten minutes long.
Program Committee procedures: The Program Committee will evaluate and discuss individual paper proposals anonymously (i.e., with no knowledge of authorship). After an initial selection of approximately 120 papers, including those in formal sessions, the authors of all proposals will be revealed, and additional papers will be selected from the remaining proposals, for a total of about 144. No paper accepted during the first round of discussion will be eliminated in the second round. Alternative format sessions and evening panel discussions are reviewed separately from individual proposals and formal sessions.
Application restrictions. No one may appear on the Indianapolis program more than twice. An individual may deliver a paper and appear one other time on the program, whether participating in an evening panel discussion or alternative format session, functioning as a chair-organizer of a formal session, or serving as a respondent, but may not deliver a lecture-recital or concert. Participation in extra-programmatic offerings such as interest-group meetings or standing committee presentations (e.g., the Committee on Career-Related Issues) does not count as an appearance for this purpose.
Only one submission per author will be accepted. Authors who presented papers at the 2009 AMS meeting may not submit proposals for the AMS portion of the 2010 meeting. Organizers of evening panel discussions or alternative format sessions may not also present a formal paper in the same year or in the preceding one, but participants may do so. Authors may not submit the same proposal to both the AMS and the SMT 2010 program committees. If an author submits two different proposals to the AMS and the SMT and both are accepted, only one of the papers may be presented.
Submission procedure. Proposals must be received by 5 p.m., EST, Friday, 15 January 2010. Electronic proposal submission is encouraged. (A link to online submission will be provided here in mid-December.) Please note that electronic proposal submission ceases precisely at the deadline. In order to avoid technical problems with submission of a proposal, it is strongly suggested that proposals be submitted at least 24 hours before the deadline. Due to the volume of proposals received, proposals received after the deadline cannot be considered. A
FAQ on the proposal submission process
will be available at the Web site, and those planning to submit proposals are encouraged to review the information posted there.
Proposals may also be mailed to the AMS Indianapolis Program Committee, attn: Robert Judd, American Musicological Society, Bowdoin College, 6010 College Station, Brunswick ME 04011-8451, to be received by 15 January 2010. If mailed, proposals must be printed in 10- or 12-point single-spaced typeface on one 8.5 x 11-inch or A4 page. Proposals sent by regular mail must include (on a separate page): the author’s name, institutional affiliation or city of residence, audio-visual requirements, and full return address, including e-mail address whenever possible.
Receipts will be sent to all who submit proposals. Those who submit proposals via mail should provide either an e-mail address or self-addressed stamped postcard for this purpose. Receipts will be sent by the beginning of February 2010.
Organized, on-going affiliated societies. Such groups should contact Robert Judd at the AMS office about scheduling a room for their meetings rather than applying through program committee procedures.
—Michael Long, Program Committee Chair
