Wavelengths: Irish and American Music. UCD: Sept 2008

The UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies will host a conference exploring musical links between Ireland and the US.

Organisers say

This event has been conceived a by a group of scholars, musicians and producers to provide a focus for performance and study of Irish and American musical relations. These relations have a long and deep history, intertwining the cultures and identities of Irish and American peoples. The event will explore and celebrate these relations via a programme that combines conference presentations and musical performances.

Wavelengths will focus on the back-and-forwards movement of musical traditions between Ireland and the United States and identify newer currents and fusions in transatlantic music. We invite proposals for conference presentations – individual papers and panels. Conference themes will include, but will not be limited to:

  • Race and ethnicity
  • Nation and identity
  • Class and work
  • Innovators (performers, technicians, collectors, commentators)
  • Emigration and diaspora
  • Historical events
  • New technologies
  • Scotch-Irish influences
  • Genres – traditional, folk, country, rock, jazz, soul, Celtic punk, hip hop…
  • Social functions of music
  • Representations of music in other media – film, photography, literature

Brief abstracts (200 words) plus a short biographical statement should be sent to Catherine Carey at Catherine.Carey@ucd.ie by 1st June 2008.

See the UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies website.