Transforming Ethnomusicological Praxis through Activism and Community Engagement

13-16 September 2015
Limerick City, Ireland

This first collaboration between the two largest academic organizations for ethnomusicology endeavours to bring some of the finest thinkers and social activists within the global academy of music scholars together with public sector actors/advocates/activists who understand the relevance of sound and movement studies in addressing social, political and environmental issues of urgent importance.

The forum will focus on ethnomusicological praxis and collaborative strategies in different international contexts and political situations. While there is now a long history in ethnomusicology of initiatives that have sought to address problems of inequality, conflict and oppression, and a shorter history pertaining to such matters as health and environmental change, the symposium will focus, not on the problems per se, but on the methodologies that could best enable our work to have greater social impact. We are interested in critically assessing and finding strategies and best practices of collaboration, communication and policy formulation. Ethnomusicologists have collaborated as cultural enablers, as contributors to polysemic and multilingual texts, as builders of global networks and alliances, as mobilizers for repatriation, and as co-creators of new narratives through audio-visual, print, and other communication modes.  Some have struggled to create alternative modes and frameworks for training in music, ones that are more dialogic and process-oriented, challenging earlier object-oriented approaches in music research. Many have focused on the privileging of non-western epistemologies. The forum seeks to explore what strategies, in which local, national, and international, and global political arenas have failed or flourished.  Instead of focusing on a specific area of social contestation, we hope to accept the challenges, discuss the collaborative ethnographic practices, and, in particular, embrace the multiple epistemologies that can provide ethnomusicologists with a way forward.

The impetus for this symposium is, of course, the complex array of emerging global challenges that have emerged in relation to conflict and violence, persistent racialized and hetero-normative social imaginaries and policies, vast economic inequity, environmental devastation, and the unprecedented mobility of individuals and communities caused by processes and conditions related to deterritorialization, global tourism, urban planning, and human health, and so on. Music making has been recognized as a means toward mobilizing human and environmental resources as well as a platform for generating communication, agreement and dispute in response to such phenomena and conditions.  The forum will strive to understand the potential uses of research and the roles that ethnomusicologists are playing and can play as activists and community collaborators. 

In addition to selecting papers proposed in response to this CFP, the program committee will invite a number of internationally renowned social and political thinkers whose work has recognized a role for expressive culture in various projects of social transformation.  The SEM-ICTM Forum will be a rare opportunity to have a conversation with participants in government, law, cultural policy formation, NGO work, and community activism about ethnomusicology’s blind spots as well as our potential to contribute to human well-being.

Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco                                             Beverley Diamond
ICTM President                                                                         SEM President
secb@fcsh.unl.pt                                                                       bdiamond@mun.ca

SEM-ICTM Programme Committee: Samuel Araújo, Gage Averill, Jayson Beaster-Jones, Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, Beverley Diamond, Svanibor Pettan, Anne Rasmussen, Tan Sooi Beng.

Registration

Registration is now open!

We are accepting payment for registration to the SEM/ICTM Forum through PayPal only. To make a payment, please login to your PayPal account (or set up a free PayPal account if you do not have one already). The email address to which you must send your payments from PayPal is SEM-ICTMLimerick2015@ul.ie, which is also our main contact address.

The fee structure is as follows:

EARLY BIRD RATE for registration by 1 July 2015
Students and unemployed: 50 EUR
All others: 65 EUR

REGISTRATION between 2 July and 20 August 2015 (closing date)
Students and unemployed: 75 EUR
All others: 95 EUR

Optional extras:
Conference Dinner, shared with ESEM XXXI delegates (on Wednesday 16 September): 20 EUR

Please add either/both of these extras to your registration where applicable:
(e.g. 50 + 20 for early bird student price with dinner = 70 EUR )
(e.g. 65 + 20 for early bird non-student registration with dinner =  80 EUR )

Any questions please email SEM-ICTMLimerick2015@ul.ie

Programme

The final programme of the Forum can be found here. 

Local Arrangements

The SEM-ICTM Forum will take place on 13-16 September 2015, hosted by the Irish World Academy in Limerick under the capable leadership of Colin Quigley (colin.quigley@ul.ie) and Aileen Dillane (aileen.dillane@ul.ie).

This year ICTM and SEM come together for the first ever joint forum which takes place on 13-16 September, at the University of Limerick located on the outskirts of Limerick City, in the midwest of Ireland. This exciting event dovetails with the annual European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, which will take place from 16 to 20 September in the same venue, so there are lots of opportunities for scholars and practitioners of music, song, and dance from across the world to exchange ideas and enjoy each other’s company.

The host city of Limerick is a compact and accessible city with lots on offer for visitors. Built on the banks of the majestic river Shannon, Limerick’s origins date from at least the 812 Viking settlement. In the 12th century, the city was redesigned by the Normans and this architecture is represented in St. John’s Castle which is a major tourist attraction in the city today. In medieval times, Limerick was the seat of the Kingdom of Thomond, which gives its name to the city’s rugby stadium, home to the internationally successful Munster team.

Limerick City played an important role in a variety of colonial incursions and wars from the 17th centuries onward. The Treaty Stone marks the spot where two treaties were signed in 1691 to end the siege of Limerick. In the 18th Century it became a Georgian city and much of that architecture shapes the city’s current-day appearance, particularly in the area known as "The Old Crescent". During the Irish War of Independence, Limerick was a self-declared soviet for 12 days in April 1919.

In the past two decades the city’s demographic has changed quite dramatically with immigrations arriving from all over the world, bringing new cultural influences and transforming the city. Nowadays there are lots of places to dine and enjoy a night out in the city, with a wide variety of cuisines, from Asian fusion, Polish, French and Indian, to more traditional Irish. Different musics can be found across the city including, of course, Irish traditional music, pop, country, rock, jazz, classical and a variety of ethnic musics, to name a few. A good place to read up about the city (what to do, where to stay) can be found at www.limerick.ie. Particular highlights include the Hunt Museum, the Milk Market, and St. John's Castle, but there are many other places of  interest and the city itself is so compact that it’s easy to walk around and simply explore for yourself.

Travelling to Limerick

Limerick City is close to Shannon International Airport (20 minutes).  Shannon is serviced by a number of routes from the UK, Europe, and North America.  It is also connected internationally by short flights from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, and London Stanstead, as well as other major and regional UK and European Airports.  A second airport that services the province is Cork Airport with similar UK and European connections.  Cork is a 1.5 hour drive from Limerick.

There are many more direct international flights to Dublin International Airport.  Dublin is about a 2.5 hour drive from Limerick and car hire is available at the airport.  Dublin Airport is served by a very comfortable coach (Dublin Coach, known as ‘the green bus’) which drops passengers off at the University of Limerick with minimum stops on the way (and just one quick change at the Red Cow Roundabout in Dublin). This service costs 10 euros each way from Dublin city Centre (near the gates of Trinity College), and 15 euros each way from the airport, and can be purchased on the day or online. See http://dublincoach.ie/timetables-fares/M7-bus-ennis-limerick-to-dublin-city.php.

Limerick Train station and bus centre (Colbert Station) is well serviced by regular trains and bus links from from across the island, including from the main cities of Dublin, Cork, and Galway, and Belfast.

See http://www.irishrail.ie for a full listing of train services to and from Limerick and see http://www.buseireann.ie for a full listing of bus services to and from Limerick.

A taxi from the station to UL costs around 7-8 euros depending on time of day and traffic.

Venue

The ICTM-SEM forum itself takes place in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. The building is located right on the banks of the River Shannon in a scenic and environmentally friendly campus. The Academy recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary and is home to a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses that relate to the study and practice of music, song, and dance in a variety of scholarly, applied, educational, arts practice, festive arts, and clinical contexts. The venues for the Forum events include the cylindrical Tower theatre and the main theatre, Theatre 1. The Academy building features a beautiful mosaic which tells the story of the River Shannon and there is a comfortable cafe onsite (as well as a variety of other eateries within easy reach). Throughout the week there will be various performances of different genres of music, song, and dance to entertain attendees, as well as opportunities to relax and have more informal discussion in project rooms and in the comfortable surroundings of The Pavilion complex right next door to the Academy building. 

Accommodation

Limerick City and suburbs offer lots of good and reasonably priced accommodation options. There are a wide variety of hotels, bed and breakfasts and other places to stay (check www.limerick.ie for full listings).

If you want to stay near the university, you can book a room at the Castletroy Park Hotel. Email Charlene at cspillane@castletroypark.ie and quote the code 1532652 to receive a discount (85 EUE for a single room and 95E for a double room bed and breakfast). You can also try the Kilmurray Lodge Hotel. Faye will be happy to offer discounted rates (59 EUR for a single and 75 EUR for double or twin B&B) for 13 to 16 September quoting 211009, and from 16 to 20 September quoting 222010, if you plan to stay around for ESEM. Booking is limited and on a first come first serve basis.

Other hotels in Limerick City Centre include The Raddison Blu, the Limerick City Hotel, The George Boutique Hotel, the Absolute Hotel, and a number of other hotels within a five minute drive.

September is generally quite a mild month in this part of Ireland. You can expect temperatures up to 18C during the day, occasionally even higher, and cooler evenings. It is always advisable to pack a light mac or small umbrella for the local "soft" rain (the price for the forty shades of green). It’s very easy to travel from Limerick to any of the other major cities in the republic (Cork, Galway, Dublin, Kilkenny) and to Belfast in the North so do try to leave some time for sight-seeing if you can. Special local highlights include driving part of the Wild Atlantic Way, visiting Lough Gur or Killaloe village on Lough Derg, or viewing the famous Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.

The local arrangements committee in UL very much look forward to seeing you.