Exploring the Soundscapes of Nonconformity

Northumbria University, April 16, 2020 - April 16, 2020
Deadline for submission/application: January 15, 2020

he International John Bunyan Society

GLORIOUS SOUNDS: EXPLORING THE SOUNDSCAPES OF BRITISH NONCONFORMITY: 1550-1800

Northumbria University

 

A Regional Day Conference of the International John Bunyan Society, organized in association with the University of Bedfordshire, Keele University, Loughborough University, Northumbria University and the University of Warwick.

 

CALL FOR PAPERS This major one day multi-disciplinary conference seeks to explore the various ways that sound impacted the lives and writings of early modern Nonconformists and, in turn, their spiritual practices. It will consider not only religious songs/sermons/catechisms but the sacred/profane sounds made in houses, streets, marketplaces, prisons, theatres, inns, palaces and fields. How did godly noises/speeches/music compete with and/or complement one another? Did the propinquity of households/meeting houses/churches hinder or help religious worship? How were the same prayers and sermons spoken/heard differently? Did silence, or its lack thereof, effect the delivery/auditory of God’s Word? In short, what sounds defined and defied British Nonconformity? Themes for papers may include (but are not limited to): remembering and forgetting sounds; emotions and the senses; disability in, or impairments to, making/hearing sound; psalmody and hymnody; forbidden or satanic sounds.

 

Plenary Speakers

  • Professor John Craig (Simon Fraser University)
  • Dr Rosamund Oates (Manchester Metropolitan University)

 

REGISTRATION Attendance is free of charge, but prior registration by 1 March 2020 is essential as numbers are limited. The conference opens at 10.00am, and ends at 5.00pm. Morning and afternoon refreshments and a light lunch will be provided, costing £15 payable on the day. Please send a biography (150 words), title and brief abstract (250-words) of a 20-minute paper – no later than 15 January 2020 – to: Robert W. Daniel (IJBSSecretary@outlook.com), Rachel Adcock (r.c.adcock@keele.ac.uk), or David Walker (david5.walker@northumbria.ac.uk). Modest travel bursaries (on request via e-mail) are available for postgraduate students whose papers are accepted. Selected papers will be considered for inclusion in the Society’s peer-reviewed journal Bunyan Studies.

Exploring the Soundscapes of Nonconformity
Location: Northumbria University
Start Date: April 16, 2020
End Date: April 16, 2020
Deadline for submission/application: January 15, 2020