Call for papers
Metal and Cultural Impact: Metal’s Role in the 21st Century
6-8 November 2014
University of Dayton
Dayton, Ohio, USA
Metal Studies is a growing interdisciplinary field, connected, though not limited, to fields as diverse as Popular Culture, Leisure Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, History, English Studies, Music, Cultural and Critical Studies, Gender Studies, Critical Theory, and Business and Economics.
This conference aims to examine Metal culture’s role in society throughout the world. Does Metal seek to bring people together or pull them away from mainstream culture? Does it serve as a rallying cry for the oppressed throughout the world? Has its development over time negatively affected the quality of the music, or has the changing nature of our world made it that much more important to its fans, musicians, and those who control the industry? How has Metal music and its culture adapted with the changing world—or has it? And, as Metal continues to be a part of world cultures, how will it not only affect the world, but also how will it be affected by the world?
We welcome individual proposals or pre-formed panels that address any or all of these questions. Possible individual themes that may be addressed include, but are not limited to:
– Metal and Culture
– Perceptions of Metal
– Metal in the Future
– Metal and Social Justice
– Economics/Business of Metal
– Historicization of Metal
– Relevance of Metal Today
– Metal as an Educating Tool
– Metal’s changing role in the World
– Metal as Controversy
– Metal and the Grotesque
– Metal and Religion
– Metal as Literature
– Metal and Race
– Metal and Homoeroticism
– Metal and Gender
– Metal’s influence on Society
– Metal’s Fans
– Life on the Road
– Metal’s role in the World Today/in the Past
What to Send
Please send a 300-word proposal which describes your individual presentation. If you are part of a pre-formed panel, each member of the panel should submit an individual proposal, and the group should write a 500-word proposal which makes connections among the 3-4 members’ presentations, discussing how they work together to present/elucidate a particular theme or subject relevant to the conference. Abstracts should be written in Microsoft Word with the following information included:
– Author’s name
– Institutional Affiliation (if there is one)
– Job title
– Email address
– Title of the proposal
– Proposal body
Proposals are due no later than 2 May 2014
Proposals should be sent to Bryan A. Bardine, Ph.D. at the following email address: bbardine1[at]udayton.edu
Papers from the conference will be published in a special issue of Metal Music Studies. The planning committee will invite a selection of the strongest authors to submit full papers. Papers submitted will be subject to the usual peer review process, so selection to submit will not be a guarantee of a paper being accepted.
This conference is also being supported by the International Society of Metal Music Studies.