CIPEM/INET-md
Porto Polytechnic Institute, College of Education, 19-20 May, 2018
Closing date for proposals and expressions of interest: 15 January 2018

The third SIMM-posium Porto 2018 will bring together researchers, practitioners interested in research, and policymakers concerned with social welfare, to build and strengthen a network of professionals wishing to deepen rigorous and evidence-based understanding of how active participatory music making may be used to bring social benefits to groups of individuals in diverse contexts and situations.

This network is one strand of activity of the recently formed International Centre for Social Impact of Making Music, founded at the University of Ghent, Belgium, but now operating as an independent scholarly association (www.simm-platform.eu) intended to involve institutional partners in various countries, which will support a programme of collaborative research training and development under the guidance of international experts in the field.

As an event taking place in a College of Education, we will particularly welcome presentations that contribute to understand the role of education, in general, and teachers, in particular, in promoting critical thinking beyond a focus on pure musical outcomes. This symposium wants to address the social responsibility of Higher Education Institutions in responding to major societal changes through their Music Education curricula and practices.

Beyond the above mentioned focus on education, presentations on any aspect of making music’s social impact will be welcome, including the following topics:

• Collaborative research between northern and southern institutions and the construction of new agendas
• Impact of context and culture
• The role of conservatoires and professional music schools in delivering social impact of making music
• Musical repertoires in social projects with young people
• Cultural democracy, inequalities, access to music making and learning

In order to preserve a lively and fully participatory dialogue, the number of participants will be restricted to 60, based on written expressions of interest. There will be provision in the programme for up to 30 brief (10 minute) presentations of research or research-related work in progress (or critical reflections on research), which will be curated into thematic panels of four to five presentations followed by a plenary discussion.

A keynote address will be given by Susan O’Neill, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University.

The programme will be overseen by a scientific committee whose members are:

• Geoffrey Baker, Royal Holloway / Institute of Musical Research
• Graça Mota, CIPEM/INET-md, Porto Polytechnic Institute
• João Teixeira Lopes, Institute of Sociology, University of Porto
• John Sloboda, Guildhall School of Music & Drama
• Lukas Pairon, research platform SIMM / University of Gent
• Salwa Castelo-Branco, president of INET-md, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences – NOVA Lisboa

Registration:

Registration fee for the entire event (including coffee brakes, and two lunches) will be €80.

Call for participants:

Expressions of interest should be sent by email to Graça Mota (gmota@ese.ipp.pt), no later than 15 January, 2018. This should include name, institutional affiliation, current professional role(s) and a 250 word statement of relevant professional experience and background (why you wish to attend this symposium).

Those wishing to make a presentation should additionally include a title and a 200 word abstract.

Participants are encouraged to organize panel sessions that make a distinctive and creative contribution to the Symposium. In that case the maximum time allowed will be 90 minutes, consisting of up to six 10-minute presentations and a 30-minute discussion. One of the speakers should be nominated as a convenor, who will make the submission on behalf of the other speakers, including a 250-word description of the rationale and content of the panel session and a 200 word Abstract for each participant’s presentation.

Participants experiencing financial hardship may be eligible for a limited number of SEMPRE bursaries to cover travel and accommodation expenses, and should indicate their interest in such support along with their expression of interest.

Successful applicants will be notified no later than 28 February, 2018, and will then be invited to register and pay the symposium fee.