CFP: Woodstock 50--Stardust and the Devil's Bargain (Berklee College of Music, April 5 - 7, 2019)

Woodstock 50: Stardust and the Devil’s Bargain
Submission deadline: October 15
April 5-7, 2019
berklee.edu/woodstock50
Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA)

In August of 1969, a dairy farm in the state of New York hosted a pivotal moment in the history of pop music. Taking place only two years after the "Summer of Love” and one year after the tumultuous events of 1968, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair put an exclamation point on the transformational decade of the 1960s.

Joni Mitchell did not attend Woodstock, but her song of the same name captures an opposition inherent to the turbulent and divisive era. “We are stardust...caught in the devil’s bargain,” Mitchell sings, “...and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.” The committee hopes that these evocative lyrics inspire a similarly wide-ranging set of proposals.

Berklee's Liberal Arts Department is pleased to announce a conference marking the 50th anniversary of Woodstock. We are soliciting proposals on any topic related to the festival itself, its performers, or its longterm impact. Given our foundation in the liberal arts, we seek proposals from any discipline as well as those that are interdisciplinary in nature. We also encourage proposals from scholars at any stage of their career.

Please submit your proposal at berklee.edu/woodstock50. Submissions are due by October 15, and accepted speakers will be notified by December 15.

For questions, please contact Alex Ludwig: aludwig -at- berklee.edu