University of Dayton To Host Heavy Metal Conference
Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 12:01AM The University of Dayton (one of my alma maters!) will host a heavy metal conference this weekend. I wrote a cover feature about the conference for the Dayton City Paper. Here's that story.
Studying heavy metal as an academic pursuit isn’t new. The interdisciplinary study has gained popularity in recent years, first in European countries and now in America. This November 6-8, add Dayton, Ohio to the list. The University of Dayton will hold a conference called “Metal and Cultural Impact: Metal’s Role in the 21st Century.” The conference, brainchild of English professor Bryan Bardine, will welcome scholars, business professionals and musicians alike to the campus for three days of insight, education and fun. Events include a presentation on “Queer Metal Matters,” an art exhibition on masks and popular culture, a screening of the documentary, “March of the Gods” and presentations by special guests Alex Skolnick (of the legendary thrash metal band Testament) and Josh Bernstein (creator of the annual Revolver Golden Gods awards).
Bardine, a lifelong metalhead, said he was inspired to create a metal conference at UD after attending a similar event at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in 2013. Bardine also presented at that conference.
“I was asked to be on a panel about metal and community,” Bardine said. “The last four years, I’ve been bringing in scholars [to UD] for different workshops and seminars. I brought one in on heavy metal and globalization. And we had four scholars, two from BGSU, one from Chicago – DePaul [University] – and the other from [University of] California, Irvine. They all talked about different aspects of metal and its influence around the world. And then, after the Bowling Green conference, I thought, ‘Why can’t we do something like this at UD?’ So we started the process.”
Bardine sought permission from UD officials to get the ball rolling. He’s been granted a lot of support, not only from the English department and grad students, but also campus officials like his department chair and even the Dean.
“I sort of borrowed the structure from the one at Bowling Green,” Bardine told the Dayton City Paper. “So instead of having concurrent sessions, we’re having consecutive ones. Once you’re here, you pretty much get to stay in the same place all day.”
Some folks from Bowling Green are also on the UD conference planning committee.
An academic conference takes a considerable amount of time to plan, from the day-to-day tasks like scheduling space for speakers and making travel arrangements, to dealing with the much longer process of formally “calling for papers” from academics across the country and world. And “world” is accurate since UD’s take on metal will welcome people from all over the globe, including New Zealand and South Africa, a feat that doesn’t exactly surprise Bardine. After all, he knew the interest was there.
“Metal studies is a legitimate field,” he said proudly. “It’s youthful and relatively new. But we’ve got great scholars working in this field now.”
In all, the conference will boast 13 sessions, including keynote speakers, meaning there’s likely something for everyone whose passion is metal. Like business more than strumming chords? No worry. Josh Bernstein, Director of Sales and Business Development at Alternative Press Magazine, will be a keynote speaker at the conference. The title of Bernstein’s keynote is “Heavy Metal: A Business, A Lifestyle, Past, Present, and Future.” He’ll address the business side of the metal world and provide an interesting commentary on an industry that has been turned upside down thanks to the Internet and file sharing. Surprising to some, Bernstein is a firm believer that the business side of metal actually helps spur creativity, providing outlets for new music and ideas.
“For years, the idea of ‘selling out’ was deemed the worst thing an artist could do; but, more recently, metal fans are smart enough to realize that it’s a necessary part of the process and essential in letting artists create, distribute and tour with their music,” Bernstein said. “People don’t think Leonardo DaVinci’s artwork was stifled because he had funding from the Medici family, or that Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel was work-for-hire from the Pope. I think all musicians should know the basics of the business side of the industry to help protect their interests.”
Keep reading the rest of the story on the Dayton City Paper website.
Reader Comments (12)
Imagine if this evolved into a full curriculum at University of Dayton.
One would receive a degree in Heavy Metal, an HMA, if you will.
\m/
p.s. As far as the symposium goes, it should be even better if Glam Metal was represented, of course, with the likes of Nikki Sixx or Tom Keifer on the dais, as well -- not just the likes of Alex Skolnick. Nevertheless, I hope you are attending, as it sounds absolutely amazing. I know I would in a heartbeat, if I could!
And, Metalboy!, you are onto something: metal, generally speaking, gets very little coverage in academia. But certain sub-sets of the Ivory Tower do in fact cover metal music. The problem is striking a balance between academicizing (not a word) the music and also conveying/analyzing the passion people have for the same.
I, for one, know of a handful of academic papers and books that look at aspects of metal. Sadly, most of them wander into such a jargon-filled nest that they would repel the most ardent fan. But I would welcome other conferences like this. Key is building it up into something with national cache in an era of tight budgets and even more dispersed academic research agendas . . . a lot of niches and very few riches.
I often wondered the reaction if I compared aspects of wch to Cinderella's "shelter me", which I often believed and professed is an equally inspirational social movement song and one that was/is very relevant of the times, and its time. It touched on various social subjects with the overall theme (again with the beatles in mind), that we all need a little help to get by; whether for some its religion, or medicine, or therapy or even rock n roll. One way is NOT better than another. just [paradoxically] different. Some help others more, some help others less. Again, it's not a question of being "right". It's discovering what works for you, so long as it doesn't hurt others. Hence, another one of my sac-religious and blasphemous statements: I believe in rock and roll. Not so sac-religious or blasphemous if you really think about it. And yes, lemmy is god!
keifer even exposes how there the hypocrisy in each of the above mentioned realms (the skeletons in jimmy [swaggart's] closet, or the cheating doctor, etc.... he even throws a big middle finger at tipper gore and her hypocritical stance against freedom and democracy.) The latter is one of the reasons that I abstained from voting for Al Gore in 2000. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Sound familiar? Trust me, in many more ways than one.
At the end, keifer provides a cautionary tale of taking things too far to the extreme (whether its religions, politics, drugs/medicine, and yes, even rock and roll), because with a toss of the dice, you can piss it all away. don't do that, peeps. We'll help you, but we're not miracle workers. (i.e. JG, TM, the perpetual cross bearer). Yes, we all have our cross to bear, and I don't mean to bitch, I swear.
But let's get back to basics: we're all in this together. We all need to pull together, let's roll up our sleeves, oh lord its gonna be alright (or all right, get it?), but don't throw your rocks at me.
We "all" need a little help. We "all" need support. We "all" need to get by in this life. We all need a little shelter. That's what I preached on those cold dark streets at night (and during the day), but some people would point the finger (and still do) cause it's giving them a thrill, while others take a [chill] pill.
To those stone throwing, glass house dwellers: you think you can keep up with me? I know what I'm doing, and the reasons why.
We all need a little shelter.
I have no problem with fan-based histories (I read them), tell all autobiographies (those too), or hybrids (the heavy metal movies book I reviewed months ago).
Thing is, an academic approach has to dig deep and do so in a different way. It requires fans to assess the music rather than simply feel it. Case in point: a wonderful piece could be written about the ironic stance in Twisted Sister's "Under the Blade." While positing that the song was about something mundane while presenting it as if it was about something far more risque, Dee Snider perfectly captured the hypocrisy of PMRC-types who suggested they "understood" the "true" meaning of songs. To my mind, it presents a far more complicated case than the oft-discussed "Suicide Solution" by Ozzy, though it is of the same general type.
But that sort of discussion isn't really a "horns up, head down" sort of thing. It provides a point of contact though. Most metal fans know about those two songs. So they already have a front-loaded appreciation of what good academic work--not ponderous, dead, tomes (the ones that move a pile of bones from one place to another or so overwork the significance as to border on a fetish of self-referential hyperbole)--can do when treating subjects that were once, and are still now for the most part, considered out of step with academic theorizing.
I believe key is to figure out where one is coming from (or going to) and follow that direction, if its working. But, I agree (and understand, I think) about academicizing the music as you stated in your first narrative and explained more in your second.
I will admit, Fletch, that I don't always catch your point. I also think that sometimes I am missing something. Other times, you seem to be just barking at the moon, leading people to tune out and turn on you. What do I know though? I think these are great observations. Thanks for them.