Call for Proposals: WNBQ Talks About Pop Muzik Call for Papers Meetings & Events

Popular music has long been a space where those with marginalized identities can express themselves freely and fully through their artistry, spanning beyond sonic communication into a realm of visual cues through their videos, performances, and fashion. Our committee selected themes of popular music in conjunction with marginalized identities of gender and sexuality to give young scholars in this area the opportunity to present their research to a like-minded audience and facilitate community building within the field. We imagine this conference as a space where we can discuss the issues facing these communities while also celebrating and amplifying the joy in these identities.

For the inaugural 2026 WNBQ conference, we invite papers discussing the intricate connections identity has on the creation, consumption, and proliferation of popular music with special regard to marginalized identities. We are interested in presentations that uplift the creations of women, non-binary, trans, and queer artists and pieces that engage music with gender and sexuality studies.

We invite presenters from all backgrounds and fields – artists, activists, scholars at the beginning of their careers to submit proposals. Our conference welcomes all attendees, but focuses specifically on voices new to presenting their own research. We especially encourage and welcome proposals from presenters currently underrepresented in academia, including, but not limited to women, Black/African American, Indigenous, and People of Color, disabled individuals, and people from LGBTQ+ communities, as well as people of different ages, socio/economic classes, nationalities, and religions. We hope to begin building a community of like-minded music scholars to continue the conversations started at our conference beyond the dates of our event.