The Society for Christian Scholarship in Music seeks proposals for its upcoming annual meeting, which will take place February 8-10, 2018 at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Wake Forest, NC.
Individual papers, panels, and lecture recitals on any topic related to music and the study of Christianity are welcome. Individual papers are 25 minutes long; panels (with three people) are one and a half hours; and lecture-recitals, one hour. We invite submissions representing a variety of approaches and perspectives, including history, ethnomusicology, theory and analysis, philosophy and theology, liturgy, and critical theory.
SCSM encourages submissions from current graduate students. A $250 prize will be awarded for the best paper presented by a graduate student at the 2018 meeting. Application instructions for the graduate student prize will be provided upon acceptance of the paper for the program and will be posted on the society’s website.
The Society for Christian Scholarship in Music is an association of scholars interested in exploring the intersections of Christian faith and musical scholarship. We are an ecumenical association, reflecting the world-wide diversity of Christian traditions, and seeking to learn from scholars outside those traditions. Conference registration is open to all interested persons: undergraduate and graduate students, as well as independent and affiliated scholars; presenters are required to become members of the society for the year of the conference. For more information about SCSM and about previous conferences, see www.scsmusic.org.
Individual Proposals should clearly describe the argument, evidence, and research findings, situate the work in relation to previous scholarship, and articulate how the research contributes to Christian scholarship in music. The identity of the author should not be divulged in the body of the proposal. Maximum length: 350 words. Only one individual proposal may be submitted.
Lecture-Recital Proposals should identify the music to be performed, including performing forces, and clearly describe the substance of the lecture component as outlined for Individual Proposals. Please note clearly at the top that this is a Lecture-Recital proposal. Maximum length: 350 words.
Panel Proposals should include a summary of the importance of the panel topic by the panel organizer (maximum length 350 words). The organizer should also include a proposal for each paper prepared by individual panelists following the guidelines for Individual Proposals, along with each panelist’s contact information. Panel Proposals will be considered only as a whole, the session’s coherence being an essential part of the evaluation process.
Program Committee Procedures: Only the Program Chair is privy to the identity of each proposer until the final stage of the selection process. Proposals are first independently assessed on a scale from zero to five by all four committee members, after which the scores are collated, averaged, and ranked accordingly. Following discussion of the results by all committee members, all but two or three of the available presentation slots are filled based on the final rankings. In a final stage, the authors of the proposals are revealed and the final slots are filled, with the committee looking for opportunities to achieve as fair and broad a representation among varying approaches and presenters as possible.
Please send submissions or questions to program chair Mark Peters at scsm2018@gmail.com. In the body of your submission e-mail, please identify your affiliation, preferred e-mail for communication, and whether you are a student. Proposals (only doc or docx files please) must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on October 1, 2017. Proposals will not be accepted after this date. Applicants will be notified of the program committee’s decision by early November.