August 29-September 12, 2010

Intended for students and scholars who have an interest in musical improvisation and its potential for dynamic forms of community building, the biennial Summer Institute marks the emergence of a new field of interdisciplinary work that promotes vibrant exchange and encourages new, socially responsive forms of community building across national, cultural and artistic boundaries. This year’s Institute theme, “Envisioning Improvisation as Social Practice: Methods and Practices,” will explore the terrain and critical questions relating to two research areas: text and media, and gender and the body.

The Summer Institute provides an unparalleled opportunity for graduate and post-graduate students from various disciplines, along with other interested participants, to come together and, over the course of two weeks, attend lectures and workshop their research interests with top scholars and artists in the field of Improvisation Studies. Each lecturer will bring different disciplinary viewpoints to the Institute, allowing for truly interdisciplinary work to take place. The Institute, being a site of innovative alliances, exposes participants to excellent training and networking opportunities.

Two courses are offered at the Institute, each of which awards certificates of attendance. In some cases university credit is possible. Participants will also be given the opportunity to present their work at special sessions of the Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium (September 8th - 10th, 2010) and will be encouraged to submit their papers to the peer-reviewed journal Critical Studies in Improvisation / Études critiques en improvisation (www.criticalimprov.com).

The Summer Institute is sponsored by the Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice (SSHRC-MCRI) Research Project.

Courses

Courses are offered as graduate credit.

Improvisation, Gender, and the Body

Course instructors:

• Tomie Hahn and
• Curtis Bahn, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Improvisation, Text and Media

Course instructor

• Bob Ostertag, University of California at Davis

Workshop Facilitators

• Frederique Arroyas, School of Languages and Literatures, University of Guelph
• Rebecca Caines, University of New South Wales.
• Ajay Heble, School of English and Theatre Studies, University of Guelph
• George E. Lewis, Department of Music, Columbia University
• Kevin McNeilly, Department of English, University of British Columbia
• Sherrie Tucker, American Studies, University of Kansas
• Robert Wallace, Departments of English and Music, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Ellen Waterman, School of Fine Arts and Music, University of Guelph

Registration

Cost: $300*

* fee waived for University of Guelph graduate students registered in their program for the summer semester and for Ontario University graduate students attending under the Visiting Graduate Student Plan (http://ocgs.cou.on.ca/content/objects/Application.pdf).

Assessment of applications will begin April 1, 2010

Travel and accommodation bursaries are available.