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. 

Proposals can be submitted to the JSAM editor by email - [email protected].