Papers wanted on the subject of popular music for the 2001 IASPM-US conference, to be held in Iowa City, IA, from September 13-16. The theme of this year's conference, "Popular Music and the Performance of Difference," reflects the key role played by popular music in the formation of social and cultural identities. The Program Committee will thus be most intererested in papers that explore ways in which individuals and groups have used popular music to mark out local or global spaces of self-expression, to challenge or reinforce received patterns of identification, and to contest or exert power over Others.

Especially encouraged are papers that address the core issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality as they are expressed and constructed through popular music, though we also invite prospective presenters to interpret "difference" broadly, so that it might include national or regional variations, multinational versus independent modes of production, differences engendered by shifts in technology, etc.

Applicants should send a one-page abstract to: Steve Waksman.

While e-mail submissions are strongly preferred, hard copy can be sent to: Steve Waksman, Ethnic Studies Department, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403.

Acceptance notification will occur by April 15, 2001. Participants are expected to join IASPM-USA (The United States branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music) by paying chapter dues and pre-registering for the conference by May 30th.