First-Ever Academic Conference on U2 Set for 2009

As incredible as it might sound, it is true. Cedarville University and the people behind @U2 (http://www.atu2.com) are sponsoring an academic conference intended to discuss the music, work and influence of Irish rock stars U2. It is the first conference of its kind. The event will be held on May 13-15, 2009 at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, incidentally the same location where former president Bill Clinton presented lead vocalist Bono with the Person of the Year Award in 2003. The conference is being called: U2: The Hype and the Feedback.

The organizers are inviting scholars, teachers, students, journalists, clergy, musicians and intellectually curious U2 fans to attend and bring their insights forward. The current call for papers and proposals closes on November 1, 2008 and is open for all of the above-mentioned people to submit. Suggested areas of exploration are as follows: lyrical/textual studies, the business of rock 'n' roll, music composition, music and cultural engagement, the performance of rock 'n' roll, the Spirit in/of rock 'n' roll, artist, audience and fan dynamics, peace efforts and social justice, art and the rock aesthetic, the rock star activist, artistic collaboration, the multi-genre modern rock star, technology in the studio/on the stage, and notions of celebrity and fame. These are only suggestions, however, and the forum for discussion is not limited to these.

The keynote speaker will be Anthony DeCurtis who has been a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine for 25 years and who also wrote the liner notes for the remastered edition of U2's live album Under A Blood Red Sky as well as the DVD release of the historic Live At Red Rocks concert. Other speakers include Steve Turner, a music journalist who supplied the band with the book that ultimately inspired the song Red Hill Mining Town and for whom Bono wrote the introduction to his book of poetry The King of Twist, Jim Henke, Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the first American journalist to interview U2, Cathleen Falsani, the religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, and Matt McGee, the founder and editor of @U2, the oldest independent site for U2 fans on the Internet.

Plans for the conference are still in their early stages. Anyone who wishes to become a sponsor of the event is welcome to contact the organizers at the website set up for the event (http://u2conference.com). Itinerary and registration requirements are not yet posted, but interested persons can sign up for email notifications that are promised for sometime around November 1, 2008. The Marriott Marquis is offering a discount to conference attenders seeking lodging, though details on this provision have also yet to be posted. The organizers have informed U2 of the conference and invited them to attend. As yet there has been no reply from the U2 camp.

All in all, it sounds like an incredibly interesting weekend, and a first for rock 'n' roll. Did someone ever organise a conference on the Beatles? A rock band could hardly be more popular than when there is an academic conference organised around it.