Call for Papers
Delta Blues Symposium VIII:
The Sacred and the Secular
April 11-13, 2002
Each year, the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State
University (Jonesboro campus) sponsors an interdisciplinary Delta Blues
conference, bringing together scholars and performers to celebrate this rich
musical tradition. Symposia also have provided a broader context for
understanding the history and culture of the seven-state Mississippi River
Delta region, extending the focus beyond the blues to other musical genres
as well as to the literature, politics, religion, folklore, and art of the
area. Past symposia have featured such speakers as David Evans, Trudier
Harris, Elizabeth Payne, Barry Lee Pearson, Michael S. Reynolds, William
Wiggins Jr., Joel Williamson, and Dr. Joycelyn Elders. Among creative
writers who have read from their works have been Ellen Gilchrist, Barry
Hanna, Yusef Komunyakaa, Ellen Douglas, and Lewis Nordan. Musicians
who have performed include Johnnie Billington, Sid Selvidge, Lemuel Shepard,
John Weston, Joyce Cobb, and CeDell Davis.
The eighth annual conference promises to provide a forum for similar
luminaries. The Focus of Delta Blues VIII will be the Sacred and the Secular
in the Delta. While we solicit papers on the Delta Blues, we also encourage
presentations on any spiritual or secular aspects of the Delta. Possible
topics include the development of gospel quartet music and other religious
music, liturgical and extra-liturgical religious expression, the role of
religion in political and social activity such as the Civil Rights movement,
and spiritually inspred visual and verbal art. Scholarly papers, organized
panels, creative presentations, and multimedia demonstrations may come from
any humanities and social sciences discipline, especially American studies,
anthropology, folklore studies, history, history of religion, literature,
musicology, popular culture, and sociology.
Proposals for academic panels and presentations should be about 250 words in
length. Those for creative presentations or performances should include a
sample of previous work. Deadline for proposals is 15 January 2002. Address
inquiries to:
Delta Symposium Committee
Dept. of English and Philosophy
P.O. Box 1890
Arkansas State University
State University, AR 72467
Phone: 870-972-3043
FAX: 870-972-3045
e-mail: delta@toltec.astate.edu
Website: http://www.clt.astate.edu/blues
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