An alumna’s upcoming visit to campus, a new video, and an article about UI’s Special Collections

This post is an unabashed grab bag of timely updates. Enjoy!

First, we are honored to have alumna Dr. Jama Stilwell (Cornell College) back on campus for an Obermann Center Humanities for the Public Good symposium this upcoming Friday (November 1). The symposium brings back Ph.D. alumni to share reflections on their careers in academia and beyond. Information about the symposium may be found here (registration is free), and Jama’s discussion panel will be from 2:45-4:00.

Next, Ph.D. candidate Megan Small took time to collaborate again with music librarian Katie Buehner on two new orchestra-related videos. The videos where shown to Iowa City elementary students before their field trip to Voxman for a concert with the symphony orchestra. The videos cover a lot of ground: in addition to offering engaging previews of the featured music, they also include a primer on conducting an orchestra (some students enjoyed time on the podium). A concert etiquette guide for the young in heart is included here:

Third, Prof. Nathan Platte recently published a brief reflection on his study of Hollywood scripts and other film-related materials held in the special collections of Simpson College and the University of Iowa. The article was featured on the UI Libraries’ and Rita Benton Music Library’ main pages, and may be enjoyed here.

The Midwest Graduate Music Consortium at Iowa: Call for Papers and Scores

The 24th annual Midwest Graduate Music Consortium will be hosted here at Voxman, March 6-7, 2020. The website for the conference and the call for papers and scores is now live! Learn more about the conference here and the process for submitting paper proposals and scores here.

MGMC is a joint venture organized by graduate students from the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, and the University of Iowa that promotes the presentation of original research and the composition of new music by graduate and advanced undergraduate students. The Midwest Graduate Music Consortium invites paper and performance submissions for its upcoming conference. We welcome proposals pertaining broadly to topics falling under the disciplinary classifications of music studies (ethno/musicology, music theory, performance, and pedagogy) and sound studies, as well as topics on the transdisciplinary frontier between music and its conceivably numerous neighbors.

 

 

Bidding farewell to summer…

“So, what did you do this summer?” It’s a familiar refrain during the early weeks of fall term.

Summer for PhD student Cody Norling meant finding that elusive balance across research, writing, and teaching. He kicked off his dissertation research by spending a week in Northern Illinois University’s “Historic Scenic Collection, 1865–2012,” which houses an abundant supply of materials relating to Chicago’s Civic Opera company.

He also finished an article manuscript on the Iowa State Normal Academy of Music for a forthcoming volume on Midwestern identity formation in the 19th century.

And, finally, Cody designed a new course titled “Rhetorics in/of Western Music” for UI’s Department of Rhetoric, where he serve as a TA. Intended as an undergraduate introduction to rhetorical inquiry and participation, the course utilizes the analysis of musical sounds, processes, and discourses within the study of persuasion and academic argumentation.

Cody’s class is now well underway, along with those of the other musicology TAs, Arthur, Elissa, Lexy, and Monica. We’ll follow up with updates from them as the semester progresses.