Fall Festival of the American Arts and National Conference
26-29 September 2002 ? East Lansing, Michigan
Sponsored by the Program in American Studies, Michigan State University

The third Fall Festival will explore relations between music and American culture. The conference aims to address as broad a range of musical formations relevant to understanding the development of American culture. Keynotes will be given by Paul Berliner (author of Thinking in Jazz), William Bolcolm (Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer on faculty at the University of Michigan), Kodwo Eshun (author of More Brilliant than the Sun: Essays in Sonic Fiction), and a live screening of Oscar Michaux?s ?Body and Soul? with live performance of a jazz score composed by Wycliff Gordon, faculty member at Michigan State University.

We encourage sessions from performers, scholars (including graduate students), and practitioners writing or engaging in theoretical, practical, or comparative perspectives through traditional academic papers or through composition and performance of musical works. Genres: ambient music, classical, club scene, country, folk, gospel, hip-hop, indigenous, jazz, Latin, MTV, military, Muzak, parlor culture, performance theories, pop, punk, rock, sacred, secular, techno, world, youth movements, etc.

Proposals for papers, concerts, lecture-performances, and full sessions are invited, as are proposals for presentations in innovative and imaginative formats. The Program Committee is particularly interested in considering papers or sessions that explore cross-disciplinary intersections, combining musical understanding with literature, history, theatre history, cultural studies, sociology, art, anthropology, dance, film studies, American studies, and other areas of scholarly inquiry and performance. Proposals involving any aspect of American music and music in America are welcome.

Individual presentations of all types normally are limited to twenty minutes in length, and full sessions typically consist of three individual twenty-minute presentations. However, if the material warrants and if sufficient justification is provided, the Committee will also entertain proposals for longer presentations, especially if they include performances or are truly interdisciplinary.

Submissions for papers consist of four (4) copies of a proposal of no more than 500 words. Because all submissions are evaluated blind, proposers' name(s), address(es), phone number(s), and e-mail address(es) should appear on only ONE copy of the proposal.

For sessions, panels, or proposals involving unusual formats, the proposer(s) should include four (4) copies of an additional statement explaining the format and overall rationale for the session, the importance of the topic, and the significance of the proposed grouping of papers. The organizer of the session should gather the proper number of individual proposals and abstracts from session members, and submit them in a single envelope. Formal session proposals are welcome, but each abstract will be evaluated individually, and the Committee reserves the right to reconfigure the organization and makeup of such proposed sessions, or to accept individually any of the proposed papers.

Proposers must also indicate special needs such as audio-visual equipment, music stands, rehearsal space, etc. There are some limitations on audio-visual equipment available and the Program Committee will determine these restrictions as the schedule for the conference is established. Presenters must register for the full conference. Appearances include delivering a paper, participating in a daytime, programmatic panel, giving a lecture-demonstration, or functioning as a chair-organizer of or respondent to a session.

All proposals must be postmarked by 1 April 2002. Submissions by facsimile or e-mail will NOT be accepted. Paper and session materials should be sent to the Program in American Studies. Envelopes should be clearly marked Fall Festival 2002.