News

Call for Papers ISSME 2027

24.07.2026

The 15th biennial International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education will take place June 7–10, 2027, hosted by LMU Munich, Germany.

Ansicht des Geschwister-Scholl-Platz mit Brunnen und Hauptgebäude der LMU von Süden

© Katharina Kainz

For the first time, the International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education (ISSME) will take place in Germany. It is drawing together music education scholars and practicioners from around the world to discuss issues, practices and perspectives inspired by the symposium's topic Troubling Tensions in the Sociology of Music Education.

The official language of the symposium is English.

SUBMISSION

Call for Papers

"Troubling tensions in the sociology of music education"

The 2027 conference organizers invite the submission of proposals for papers and panels on aspects of theory, philosophy, research and practice in the sociology of music education. The symposium with the topic “Troubling tensions in the sociology of music education” welcomes research and scholarly investigations into a wide range of contexts, such as schools, universities, festivals, communities, the media, homes and online spaces. ‘Music education’ is understood to include all forms of teaching and learning music – formal, informal and non-formal.

Submissions are encouraged from researchers at all stages of their careers, and research from qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method or philosophical approaches are welcome. Scholars focusing on music and musical practices outside of Euro-American traditions are especially encouraged.

In addition, here are a variety of possible topics that may be addressed in presentations:

  • What can we learn from a sociology of music education?
  • What are the major challenges and tensions facing music education and the sociology of music education?
  • How can we address these "troubling tensions" from a sociological perspective, both in music education generally and within the sociology of music education?

Presentation formats:

  1. Spoken Paper presentations will be 30 minutes in length (20 min presentation; 10 min Q & A).
  2. Panels of three to five presenters will be 50 min in length (40 min presentation; 10 min discussion)
  3. Lightning talks. These are presentations that focus on a single topic, example, idea, project, or technique. They differ substantially from a delivered paper in that they do not attempt to cover all aspects of their subject matter, but present one facet of an idea clearly and succinctly using graphics, images, text, and sounds. An effective lightning talk is insightful, inspiring, thought-provoking, useful, humorous, controversial, and/or enlightening. Lightning talks are no longer than 10 min.

Proposals of no more than 250 words (excluding references) that provide reviewers with sufficient information to understand the purpose, methodologies, results, and implications of your research are to submit via ConfTool.

  • Deadline for proposals is Dec. 31, 2026.

Contact

Notification of acceptance after an anonymous review by the conference review panel will be sent by March 1, 2027. Please direct any questions you may have to Ed McClellan: emcclell@loyno.edu

For information regarding the symposium details please contact Alexandra Kertz-Welzel and Elisabeth Pawelke: issme2027@lmu.de