Sources and Archives in Screen Sound Studies

Dates: 1-2 June 2017, University of Huddersfield UK
Proposal deadline: 20 March 2017
Website: https://screensoundsources.wordpress.com/

As research on screen sound and music continues to expand, the questions, methodologies, and objects of study that researchers face become increasingly diverse. Source materials, including production documentation, musical scores and sketches, papers and ephemera, and audiovisual materials, play a significant yet problematic role. Materials may be difficult to access, and they frequently reveal working practices that challenge traditional notions of autonomy, authorship, and creativity in music studies. In addition, archival-based research has often formed a separate area of concern: its emphasis on industry processes, technologies, and documentation of creative practice can sometimes feel disconnected from the discipline’s various approaches to textual analysis.

Sources and Archives in Screen Sound Studies aims to open up and progress dialogue around the challenges of access, study, and integration of these materials and concerns. Around 20 places are available at the symposium, which is free of charge and supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, and the University of Huddersfield. Some funding will also be available to assist with travel and accommodation costs for participants, and researchers at all career stages and from any relevant disciplinary background are encouraged to apply.
We aim to foster collaboration and opportunities for discussion around the role and significance of source materials in all aspects of sound and moving image research, including film and television musicology, ludomusicology, voice and/or sound studies, and practice research in composition or performance.

Issues discussed might include, but are not limited to:
- Archival formats and materials: preservation, training, access, and dissemination
- The interface of process documentation with textual analysis
- Source materials as creative stimulus
- Archives, scholars, and the wider public
- Analysing aesthetics in an industrial context
- Training needs and provision for audiovisual researchers
- Pedagogical approaches to archival material
- Archiving the current practices of institutions and individuals
- Copyright and ‘fair use’ of source materials

Researchers, archivists, and other potential participants are invited to submit a 250-word outline of their proposed contribution to the symposium by 20 March 2017. These can include traditional presentations (20 minute papers, 10 minute provocations, or pre-formed panels), but we are also keen to explore alternative formats, which might include: presentation of particular case study materials for group discussion; proposals for reading or discussion groups; training or good practice workshops; or creative work or performances that engage with source or archival materials. We also invite statements of more general interest in participating as a discussant at the symposium: please provide an outline of the way these issues relate to your own research projects, practices, and/or training needs. We would be particularly interested to hear from people who might be able to make elements of their own archival acquisitions or holdings available to participants for the duration of the event (via secure digital download/conference packs), which could serve as case studies, working models, or practical discussion points.

Committee: Dr Catherine Haworth (University of Huddersfield); Dr Nathan Platte (University of Iowa); Ben Winters (Open University). Please send all correspondence to c.m.haworth-at-hud.ac.uk.