Written by: David Porter
Following its successful Darkness on the Edge of Town Symposium earlier this month, Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ, home of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, has announced a 50th anniversary celebration of The White Album to be held at Monmouth University November 8-11 2018. The conference theme is “Producing an Enigma for the Ages.”
The festivities will include various live acts, as well as keynote addresses by rock critics and figures from the music industry. Celebrated Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn will serve as our keynote speaker, along with such luminaries as Walter Everett, John Covach, Tim Riley, Robert Rodriguez and Scott Freiman, among others.
Submissions are now open for abstracts and/or panel suggestions pertaining to the life, work, and influence of the Beatles, particularly in relation to their legendary album The Beatles (1968), popularized as The White Album. To submit an abstract, click here. Abstracts should be 150-250 words in length to ensure full consideration. Papers will be considered for, but certainly not limited to, the session rubrics below. Full-panel submissions are also encouraged.
The deadline for abstract submission is July 9, 2018. Possible subjects include:
The Beatles and 1960s History
• The Beatles and Critical Theory
• The Beatles and Clapton
• The Beatles and Dylan
• The Beatles and Education
• The Beatles and Gender
• The Beatles and Musicianship
• The Beatles and Music Production
• The Beatles and Performance
• The Beatles and Politics
• The Beatles and Psychology
• The Beatles and Rock ‘n’ Roll Iconography
• The Beatles and the Music Business
• The Beatles and the Politics of Culture
• The Beatles and Work and Class
• The Beatles and/as Literature
• The Beatles as Narrative Poets
• The Beatles in the 21st Century
• The Beatles on War
• The Beatles’ Musical Contemporaries
• The Beatles’ Musical Influences
• The Beatles’ Musical Legacy
Monmouth University is a member of the GRAMMY Museum’s affiliate program. For more information, contact Ken Womack, Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at kwomack@monmouth.edu
