Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music Higher Education

Friday 24th January 2020
125 Conference Suite, City, University of London, London EC1V 0HB

Convened by the Royal Musical Association and MusicHE (formerly NAMHE) in partnership with the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (UK and Ireland), the Society for Music Analysis and the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE)

In her study of diversity and racism in institutional life, cultural theorist Sara Ahmed writes about the ‘politics of stranger making; how some … become understood as the rightful occupants of certain spaces … whilst others are treated as “space invaders”, as invading the space reserved for others’. How do we create Music Departments that don’t feel like spaces ‘reserved for others’? What should Music Departments of the 21st century look like, both in their personnel and their curricula? In terms of gender, we have come a long way in recent decades, but much remains to be done when it comes to other dimensions of difference and exclusion. What does the current state of Music HE reveals about the workings of power and privilege, about who and what becomes centred and peripherised, and why. What are the barriers to diversity?

Following the workshop, ‘Interrogating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Music: BAME routes into and through Higher Education’, held in May 2019, we are convening a one-day event to address the questions above, to continue the discussion around EDI issues in Music HE and to identify ways of extending work in this area. Recognising that EDI is an important issue facing music education today, and that Music HE has an important role to play in shaping the broader agenda, we invite colleagues to share best practice from within their own departments. What activities, innovations, curricular changes, pedagogic approaches and recruitment events are happening which specifically address a diversity agenda, especially (but not exclusively) with regard to ethnicity and class? The aim is to develop a broad subject awareness of what is going on nationally and to provide a forum for exploring ideas and proposals for future work.

Presentations should be 15 minutes in length, can be sole or collaboratively presented, and can take the form of paper, demonstration, workshop, or other format as suitable for the project being shared. Please submit a title and 200-word abstract, with short biographies of no more than 100 words per contributor, to [email protected] by 8th November 2019. The steering group will review and contact contributors no later than 22nd November 2019.

The day will include a provocation session to stimulate debate, a range of case studies, and opportunity to network. We anticipate that one of the outcomes of the day will be the opportunity to share ideas and teaching resources via MusicHE’s newly launched website.

Simon McVeigh (RMA)
Helen Julia Minors (MusicHE)
Laudan Nooshin (RMA)