Since its inception Metal music has been in constant flux, whether in the development of new genres and subgenres to the way that it has been perceived in society over time. Metal music and culture, to survive, need to adapt to a world constantly in upheaval, whether through changing attitudes toward the music, changes in society’s structure, or even changes in what Metal music is and how it addresses issues in the world, like COVID. But to stay Metal it must still maintain its own identity.
This 1-day conference seeks to bring in scholars who examine the themes and issues that Metal music and culture must deal with regularly. How does Metal address a pandemic like COVID-19? How does Metal address changes in governments? Religions? How does the world perceive the music and its fans? How do Metal scenes survive in these changing times? Where does the future of Metal lie—both for the music and those who are fans and those who are the artists who create it?
We welcome individual proposals or roundtable presentations that address any or all of these questions. Possible individual themes that may be addressed include, but are not limited to:
- Metal and Social Justice
- Metal in the classroom—How is it being taught?
- Metal’s future in scholarship
- Metal and the Environment
- Metal and Health
- Metal’s role in Society
- Metal’s influence in the world
- Metal as a change agent
- Metal and Racism
- The Particularities of Metal in the Global South
- Metal and Race
- Metal and Gender
- Metal’s influence outside the Global North
- The Global South’s Influence on Metal
- How Metal has changed over time
- Extremity as a tool for change
- Perceptual changes in Metal
- Metal and Religion
- Changing Genres of Metal
- Metal Music Scenes
Please send a 300-word proposal to udmetal24@gmail.com by June 10 2024. We welcome individual panels or roundtable discussion topics. If your panel is accepted you will be placed with other scholars who have similar topics. If your roundtable topic is approved you will be expected to lead a discussion group during the roundtable session—and your table will then share your outcomes to the larger group. Individual panel presentations should be 20 minutes—no more. We want to make sure that there is time for a Question/Answer discussion once each of the presenters is done.
Our goal is to have a Metal concert at a nearby venue at the conclusion of the conference to celebrate.
Our keynote address speaker is Dr. Kevin Fellezs from Columbia University.
Proposals should be written in Microsoft Word with the following information included:
Author’s name
Institutional affiliation (if there is one)
Job title
Email address
Title of the proposal
Proposal body
Proposals are due no later than June 10 2024. You will find out if you have been accepted no later than July 5 2024.
The conference is October 19 2024 at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA.
Proposals should be sent to Bryan Bardine, Ph.D. at Udmetal24@gmail.com.