The LGBTQ+ Music Study Group is delighted to announce our 5th symposium, “Caring Amidst Neoliberalism: History, Solidarity, Desire.” In resistance to ongoing insidious ahistorical extortionist neoliberal greed, our symposium echoes the call of our previous events to center care and community in the slow, often tumultuous path toward justice. We all recognize the long slog of social justice, especially in this–year 4–of an ongoing global pandemic. Liberal and conservative movements alike have been quick to identify problems that require sudden action, fueling our neoliberally cultivated short attention spans while feeding the hungry beast that is capitalism’s rat race. Echoing the creed of our “Queer, Care, Futures'' Symposium in Southampton, UK and the virtual Queer Forum in 2021, this year’s virtual symposium will offer slow, thoughtful intellectual excursions into queer belonging to cultivate brighter hope toward realizing our aspirations and queer desires. 
 
This free online event aims to cultivate a community of care via a coordinated zine-making workshop, an early career researchers’ writing workshop, a mutual mentoring scheme (continued from previous years), and an invited panel to discuss “Transitioning within Musical Professions,” with Michael Bussewitz, Sam Dunscombe, Sarah Hennies, Kaleb E Goldschmitt, Jaime Díaz, and moderated by Daniele Sofer.
 
We also invite proposals for 20-minute papers and/or performances on queerness in music and sound, broadly interpreted across musical and academic disciplines. Proposals that deal with the below topics as they pertain to queer music and sound studies are especially encouraged:
 

• Cultivating Care/Community

• Slow academia

• Continuity, Solidarities

• Temporalities

• Rupture, Resistances, Activisms 

• Finding joy in resisting oppressive structures

• Intersectionality

• Medicalization

• Music and HIV/AIDS

• Pedagogy

• Reproductive/Sexual Rights

• Disability

 
Participants are alternatively encouraged to submit proposals for shorter works of about 5 minutes that will take place throughout to open the space and frame the symposium. Such interventions might take the form of:

• Lightning talks to incubate ideas and road-test ongoing work

• Short presentations on current research; the current academic climate; experiences across different career stages

• Videos

• Sound recordings

• Visual arts/posters

 
To submit, please email abstracts to lgbtqmusicsg[at]gmail[dot]com by 26 June 2024. Abstracts should be approx. 250 words and specify author time zone and the desired format. Proposals for performance, audio, or visual-arts work must include a sample of previous work. Alternative formats based on access needs are welcome. Decisions will be communicated on 15 July 2024. We look forward to hearing from you!