This seminar accompanies the international conference on "American Soundscapes" that takes place at the University of Oldenburg from 23-25 May 2024. The conference explores "the production and the perception of sounds and noises, their acoustic characteristics, material-technological conditions, their manifestation in other sign systems, as well as historically and culturally specific ways of hearing and listening" regarding the United States. The conference is a unique opportunity to see presentations by some of the leading scholars in the field, including Nina Sun Eidsheim (UCLA) and Jonathan Rosenberg (Hunter College, NYC). Eidsheim will be talking about jazz trumpeter and artist Leo Wadada Smith while Rosenberg will investigate the role of classical music in US foreign policy during the Cold War. The conference will also be featuring a panel on the role of sound and music in the 2024 US election campaign.

This seminar will help students to prepare their attendance of some of the talks that will be given at this conference, allowing them to become familiar with the format of a large international conference and enabling them to follow and to critically inquire about some of the key presentations. It will also serve as a forum in which aspects of the conference will be discussed. It is open to students from a large variety of disciplines, including music and American studies.

Link to conference website:
https://uol.de/en/english-american/dgfa-70th-annual-meeting-23-25-may-2024