February 9, 2024 | 9:00AM
Franke Institute for the Humanities, 1100 East 57th Street, JRL S-102
You are cordially invited to attend the Inaugural Symposium of Professor Philip V. Bohlman's International Balzan Prize for Ethnomusicology project (2023–28) entitled "Borderlands of Sonic Encounter." The Inaugural Symposium brings together young scholars and musicians to engage with the forms of sonic encounter that are afforded by the borderland. The day-time portion of the Inaugural Symposium will take place at the Franke Institute, comprising three panels and a keynote presentation that will explore key foci of the project: (1) Bengal Borderlands, (2) Media, Mode, and Mobility, (3) and the Middle East. The evening portion of the Inaugural Symposium will feature a form of intimate musical gathering known as mehfil at the Gamma Alpha Graduate Co-op organized in collaboration with the Chicago Mehfil, an arts collective of regular organizers of mehfil events in Chicago.
View the full symposium program
Schedule
Day-time Panels — Franke Institute: 1100 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637
9–9:30 am: Check-in/registration
9:30–11:00 am: Panel 1 (Bengali Borderlands; Chair, Supurna Das Gupta, Humanities Teaching Fellow, University of Chicago) with Ronit Ghosh (PhD candidate in SALC and Music, University of Chicago), Tomal Hossain (PhD candidate in Music, University of Chicago), and Pramantha Tagore (PhD student in Music, University of Chicago).
11:00 am–12:30 pm: Panel 2 (Media, Mode, Mobility; Chair, Nadia Chana, Asst. Prof. of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison), with Fiona Boyd (PhD candidate in Music, University of Chicago), Varshini Narayanan (PhD Candidate in Music and Theater and Performance Studies, University of Chicago), and Yun Emily Wang (Asst. Prof. of Music, Duke University).
12:30–1:30 pm: Lunch break
1:30–3:00 pm: Panel 3 (Middle East; Chair, Erol Köymen, Humanities Teaching Fellow, University of Chicago) with Jon Bullock (Asst. Prof. of Music, Notre Dame), Ronnie Malley (PhD student in Music, University of Chicago) and Shayna Silverstein (Asst. Prof. of Performance Studies, Northwestern).
3:00–4:30 pm: Keynote presentation by Ulrike Präger (Asst. Prof. of Music, University of Louisville) on her work as co-editor of the "Music and Migration" project in German and English.
4:30–5:30 pm: Reception
5:30–6:30 pm: Dinner
Evening Mehfil — Gamma Alpha Grad Co-op: 5621 S University Ave, Chicago, IL, 60637
*Please RSVP for the evening mehfil at this link. *RSVP is required for attendance.
6:30 pm: Doors open
7:00 pm: Featured performance (“Borderlands of Sonic Encounter”): Habibullah Wardak (rubab), Nada Abulibdeh (voice), Tomal Hossain (harmonium, voice), Mir Naqibul Islam (tabla), Ronnie Malley (oud), Pramantha Tagore (sarod, voice), Wanees Zarour (misc).
8:30 pm: Intermission
9:00 pm onwards: Open mics and jam session
Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, the Department of Music, the Franke Institute for the Humanities at the University of Chicago, and the International Balzan Prize Foundation.
Photo: *Elevated view of the Benapole-Petrapole border ceremony at the zero point between India and Bangladesh (14 January 2023).