CFP Deadline Extended: Phish Studies May 2024: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Band, its Music, and its Fans

Call for papers deadline extended for Phish Studies 2.0, an academic conference devoted to the music and fan culture of the improvisational rock band Phish in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. The conference will take place on Oregon State’s campus in Corvallis, Oregon, May 17-19, 2024.

For the full CFP, details about the conference, and directions for submission, please visit our website, https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/phish2024/cfp/. Proposals in all categories are due no later than January 15, 2024.

We encourage proposals from scholars at any stage of their career, including graduate students as well as scholars outside of academia. Abstracts should specify the presenter’s methodological and theoretical approach, summarize conclusions, and specify the broader academic implications of the research.

Proposals can be for one of three types of participation:

1. Research proposals, including 20-minute papers and 90-minute panel, roundtable, or workshop presentations.

2. Artwork for a curated exhibition of artwork to be featured in conference venue hallways and meeting rooms.

3. Musical performances by individual musicians and bands to perform during nightly social events.

Additionally, we invite advanced undergraduates to submit proposals to participate in a Student Scholar panel. Selected students will present their research to a supportive, interdisciplinary community of scholars and be paired with a professional mentor. 

Bringing scholars together from diverse academic disciplines, we welcome a wide range of methodological and theoretical approaches to the sonic, narrative, performative, theoretical, visual, social, and cultural worlds of Phish, including, but not limited to:

• Business: Business practices; Place within music industry; Tape trading; Early adoption of the internet; Media framing of Phish; Influence on American music festival culture; Influence on the jam band genre

• Elements of Live Performance: Cover songs; Concert lighting; Venues (Accessibility; Sustainability; Safety); Instruments and Gear; Fan space and place

• Fan Culture: Fan communities (virtual, face-to-face); Fan communication; Fandom; Fan art; Parking lots; Tape trading; Issues of race, gender, religion, sexuality, & disability; Activism; Subcultural identities; Fan mythologies; Ethics

• Music and Lyrics: Compositional practice; Improvisational strategies; Band mythologies, including Gamehendge; Questions of genre; Historiography; Literature & poetry; Rhetorical analysis; Philosophical questions; Side projects; Music theory

• Quantitative Analysis: Analyses of setlists, fan show ratings, & tour itineraries.