The forty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Theory (SMT) will be held in Jacksonville, Florida, from Thursday, November 7, to Sunday, November 10, 2024.
The Program Committee invites proposals on any topic related to music theory, as long as the work has not been published in peer-reviewed publications (print or electronic) and has not been presented at an annual conference of the SMT, AMS, CMS, SEM, or SAM. Proposals for posters and for presentations in innovative formats are encouraged.
The SMT promotes the development of, and engagement with music theory as a scholarly and pedagogical discipline. Academic freedom is central to supporting the Society’s values. For our meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, the program committee especially welcomes proposals for special sessions on topics related to academic freedom in any of its aspects.
In addition, in solidarity with the communities that welcome us each year, and with the aim of outreach and reinforcement of our ties with the histories and cultures of place, we propose a new category of poster submission presented in the framework of a Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit. This exhibit is an occasion for SMT to invite local students and educators, and is intended as a forum for sharing ideas on topics related to music theory, curricular, pedagogical, and technological strategies and innovation, and interaction on subjects of social and political challenges and advocacy.
Submission Procedure and Deadline
- Proposals (including proposals for joint sessions) must be received by 11:59 p.m. on February 1, 2024 EST. Please note that proposal submission ceases precisely at the deadline.
- To avoid technical problems with submission please submit at least twenty-four hours before the deadline.
- Proposals received after the deadline cannot be considered.
- Proposals are to be submitted electronically via the submission portal. The online submission form will ask for the following:
- Author(s) and contact information
- Abstract and Proposal: In addition to uploading a PDF of your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, we ask that proposers also include a 350-word abstract suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
- Proposal type (may tick all the boxes that apply)
- Paper
- Poster (print)
- Poster (digital)
- Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit (print)
- Alternative Special Session Format: 90 or 180 minutes
- Integrated Special Session Format: 90 or 180 minutes
- Standing Committee: 90 or 180 minutes
- Five relevant keywords. Recommended keywords are names of composers, theorists, methodologies employed, repertoires discussed, or anything distinctive to the proposal.
- Whether or not a piano is required
- For special session proposals, the session rationale and the individual paper proposals should be submitted as a single package by the session organizer through the online submission portal. The Program Committee will see only the session rationale and the individual paper proposals.
- Notifications of the Program Committee's decisions will be sent in early June.
- Rejected proposals will remain anonymous; only the SMT Executive Director, in mailing out acceptance and rejection letters, will know the identities of the authors of these proposals.
- The Committee may accept a proposed paper under the condition that it be transformed into a poster, or vice-versa (a poster transformed into a paper).
- At the invitation of the Program Committee, an accepted poster submission may be considered for presentation both as a Poster and Exhibit Poster.
Guidelines and Rules for All Proposals
- Guidelines: The Committee strongly encourages all authors to visit the website of the SMT’s Professional Development Committee for advice and successful proposal samples from prior years.
- Anonymity: All proposals will be evaluated anonymously and should exclude the author’s name and any other direct or indirect signal of authorship. (When submitting the proposal online through the portal, authors will enter their name and contact information.)
- References to the author's own work must occur in the third person.
- "Author" metadata must be removed from electronic files. (In Adobe Acrobat, go to File > Properties and delete the name from the Author box.)
- Any online materials, including but not limited to YouTube channels and websites, must also be anonymized.
- Word limit: A proposal will not be considered if it exceeds word limits for that proposal type.
- Multiple submissions: With the exception of the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit, under no circumstances should an individual be involved in more than two proposals viewed by the SMT Program Committee. More details on this policy are given below under Participation Restrictions. In cases of multiple submissions that do not follow these rules, none of the submissions will be considered.
- SMT membership: Those who present at the conference must be members in good standing of the Society. You do not need to be a member to submit a proposal.
Proposal Content for Papers and Posters
Authors writing a proposal for a paper or poster should keep in mind the following:
- Anonymity: The proposal and supplementary materials should preserve the anonymity of the author(s) as described above in Guidelines and Rules for All Proposals.
- Word limit: The proposal (including notes) should be no more than 500 words. Each mathematical equation may be counted as one word.
- Keywords: The online submission form will request that authors provide five relevant and specific keywords; recommended are names of composers, theorists, methodologies employed, repertoires discussed, or anything distinctive to the proposal.
- Supplementary materials: Successful proposals typically include appended supplementary materials (such as musical examples, diagrams, hyperlinks, and selected bibliography) as necessary to substantiate an argument, demonstrate results, or clarify the proposal’s relationship to prior scholarship.
- The examples may include text annotations.
- Texts that are themselves analytical objects, such as quotations from treatises, archival documents, or translations, are also acceptable; however, any text in the supplementary examples and captions should serve only to illuminate arguments already present in the 500-word proposal and should not introduce new examples, explanations, or evidence.
- Supplementary materials must not exceed four pages.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading a PDF of your 500-word proposal and any supplementary materials, we ask that proposers also include a 350-word abstract suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
Additional information about authorship, keywords, presentation format, etc. will be requested in the online submission portal, as described above under Submission Procedure and Deadline.
Presenting a Paper or Poster
Please note that the Society cannot guarantee internet access for presentations.
Papers
- Accepted papers will be allocated a 30-minute slot: 20 minutes for the paper and 10 for discussion.
- A sound system and LCD projector will be available for all presenters.
- The Committee may accept a proposed paper under the condition that it be transformed into a poster.
Posters
- Poster presenters will either bring a printed poster suitable for mounting on an easel, or present their poster digitally by connecting their laptop or tablet computer to an LED screen.
- Authors in the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit must present on printed posters only.
- Presenters will stay with their posters and interact with interested individuals, summarizing primary findings and answering questions about the research.
- Presenters may optionally augment the poster presentation with sound files (headphones required) and/or handouts.
- For tips on presenting a poster, please see these guidelines from the SMT Professional Development Committee.
- The Committee may accept a proposed poster under the condition that it be transformed into a paper.
- A proposal for a poster should follow the guidelines for submission of papers but indicate the author’s preference that it be considered for the poster session. On the submission form proposers will have the opportunity to indicate whether they plan to present a printed poster, a digital poster, or if they could present in either medium.
Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit
The Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit is a pilot category intended as a forum for community outreach for meeting local educators and sharing ideas on topics related to:
- teaching music theory in high schools
- curricular, pedagogical, and technological strategies
- social and political advocacy.
Authors applying for the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit must present on a printed poster.
At the invitation of the Program Committee, an accepted poster submission may be considered for presentation both as a Poster and Exhibit Poster.
During this pilot year, authors may present at this special exhibit and also at a regular paper or poster. For more information, see Participation Restrictions below.
Guidelines for proposals are the same as for regular paper and poster proposals.
Special Sessions
A special session is proposed as a whole, rather than as a set of individual submissions. Two formats are available: the integrated special session and the alternative format special session.
Integrated special session
- An integrated special session comprises a set of papers that are closely related in content, thoughtfully integrated, and framed by a session rationale.
- Each paper occupies a regular 30-minute time-slot (20-minute presentation plus 10-minute question period).
- The Committee reserves the right to consider each paper separately and to program a paper with or without the others from that proposed session.
Alternative format special session
- Alternative format special sessions are organized in a non-standard way, such as:
- Panel discussion
- Workshop
- Flipped session
- Lightning talk session
- A set of 30-minute papers in 45-minute time-slots (the old SMT format)
- Because individual contributions typically do not fall within a standard 30-minute time-slot, an alternative format session is accepted or rejected in its entirety.
Proposal content for special sessions
- Session length: Special sessions of either type may be either 90 or 180 minutes in duration; indicate your session length.
- Session rationale: Proposals for special sessions must include a session rationale of no more than 500 words.
- Paper proposals: Additionally, all special session proposals must have individual proposals for all segments of the session (except for respondents).
- These should follow, where possible, the guidelines for paper proposals.
- With prior approval of the Program Committee chair, special session proposals may be exempted from certain aspects of the guidelines listed above, including, in some cases, the rule of anonymity for participants. To discuss the possibility of exemptions, those wishing to propose such sessions must contact the Executive Director no later than January 22, 2024.
- Abstract: In addition to uploading your session rationale and individual proposals, we ask that proposers also include a 350-word session abstract (and individual abstracts, if applicable) suitable for the program book and paste it into the indicated field. If your presentation is accepted, you will have the opportunity to edit your abstract at a later date.
The session rationale and the individual paper proposals should be uploaded as a single PDF package by the session organizer through the online submission portal. The Program Committee will see only the session rationale and the individual paper proposals.
Participation restrictions
Except for our new Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit, only one proposal per person is allowed. No one may appear on the program more than twice. Only poster proposals accepted for the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit are exempt from this restriction.
Restrictions on paper/poster presentations at SMT
Authors may submit only one of the following types of proposal:
- Author or joint author of a 20–minute paper
- Author or joint author of a poster
- Author of a 20- or 30-minute paper for a special session (in this case the author’s proposal is part of the single package submitted by the organizer)
- Organizer of an integrated special session (the organizer may also propose a 20-minute paper for that same session)
- Organizer of an alternative-format special session (the organizer may also deliver a paper of no more than 30 minutes in the same session)
- Author or joint author of a scholarly paper or a presentation of more than 10 minutes as part of a session presented by a standing committee (Committee on Feminist Issues and Gender Equity, Committee on Race and Ethnicity, Professional Development Committee, Committee on Disability and Accessibility, and Committee on LGBTQ+ Issues). The Program Committee will not evaluate papers or presentations by the individual standing committees, but the chairs shall submit complete descriptions of their sessions through the online portal by February 1, 2024.
With the exception of the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit, under no circumstances should an individual be involved in more than two proposals viewed by the SMT Program Committee.
Additional forms of participation at SMT
An individual may participate in any of the presentation formats listed above and appear one other time on the program, in one of the following capacities:
- as a participant in the Public Music Theory Poster Exhibit
- as a chair/respondent for a session
- as a participant in a roundtable discussion
- as a performer
- as an author of a non-scholarly presentation in an alternative-format special session or standing committee session
- as an author of a scholarly presentation of no more than 10 minutes in an alternative-format special session or standing committee session
Interest group meeting participation
Participation in SMT Interest Group meetings is outside the purview of the Program Committee, who places no limitations on Interest Group participation or presentation, even for those individuals who are presenting in the maximum number of allowable ways outlined above. Presentations that appear in Interest Group meeting descriptions should not be considered part of the program chosen by the Program Committee. Read more about citing interest group presentations here.
Further questions
If you have a question about your participation that does not seem to be covered by the guidelines above, please contact the Chair of the Program Committee.
SMT 2024 Program Committee
- Maryam Moshaver (University of Alberta, Chair) pcchair@societymusictheory.org
- Kyle Adams (Indiana University)
- Guy Capuzzo (University of North Carolina Greensboro)
- Tomoko Deguchi (Winthrop University)
- Mariusz Kozak (Columbia University)
- Sam Mukherji (University of Michigan)
- Brad Osborn (University of Kansas)
- Jan Miyake (Oberlin College, ex-officio)
For clarification or further information, please contact SMT Executive Director Jennifer Diaz at SMT@societymusictheory.org.