The Journal of the Society for American Music invites the
submission of proposals for colloquies to be published in the journal. A JSAM
colloquy will gather four short articles on a topic relevant to the study
of music across the Americas. JSAM’s first colloquy, on anti-racism and
the undergraduate music curriculum, was published in vol. 15, no. 4 (2021).
Proposals for colloquies on specific topics can be made to the
editor at any time. Approximately one colloquy will be published in each volume
of the journal.
JSAM colloquies consist of four brief articles (under 3000 words each)
on a specific topic, with an introduction by a proposed colloquy convenor and,
if desired, a brief closing essay by a respondent. Proposals for colloquies
should be submitted to the JSAM editor.
A colloquy proposal (max. 2 pages) should list the colloquy
convenor(s), four experts in the colloquy topic who are already committed to
contributing (which might or might not include the convenor(s)), and a
respondent, if appropriate. It should then provide a justification for the
colloquy’s contribution as a scholarly intervention, explaining its
significance at the present time, and a brief overview of the essays the
authors will contribute (excluding the respondent’s). This proposal will be
reviewed by the editor and the Editorial Board.
Once a colloquy proposal has been approved, the JSAM editor
and convenor will agree a timeline for submitting the complete colloquy,
including the respondent’s essay, through JSAM’s ScholarOne portal.
This will typically be 2-3 months. The complete colloquy submission will then
be reviewed by the editor and the editorial board (and other experts, as
needed) prior to acceptance for publication.
Proposals for colloquies should align with JSAM’s mandate
to support scholarship that transcends disciplinary boundaries, representing
perspectives from historical musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology,
cultural theory, identity studies, American studies, or other fields that
involve the study of music across the Americas. The goals of these new JSAM
colloquies and roundtables include: 1) fostering transformative dialogue about
current issues in scholarship and pedagogy; and 2) providing a platform for a
demographically diverse range of voices. Proposals including contributors who
represent a range of viewpoints, subdisciplines, identities, and career stages
are thus especially encouraged.