• 2024 SEM KEYNOTE WITH TAMER NAFAR

    The Society for Arab Music Research welcomed Tamer Nafar for the Keynote lecture at the Society for Ethnomusicology conference on October 25, 2024. Tamer Nafar is the founder of DAM, the original Palestinian hip-hop supergroup featured in the film “Slingshot Hip Hop.” Tamer is also known as a film actor (Junction 48), writer, and prominent activist on behalf of Palestinian rights.

  • SYMPOSIUM: DIGITAL MUSIC CULTURES IN THE ARAB WORLD

    The Society for Arab Music Research (SAMR), along with the ICTMD Study Group on Music in the Arab World, were pleased to host the international symposium, “Digital Music Cultures in the Arab World: Production, Scholarship, Circulation, Archiving, and Advocacy” on Saturday, May 25th at 16:00 - 20:00 GMT/UTC (12:00 - 16:00 EDT.) This was a virtual symposium that was open to all. The program, abstracts, and registration link may be viewed here.

  • CFP: SAMR/ICTMD MUSIC IN THE ARAB WORLD STUDY GROUP

    CALL FOR PROPOSALS: SAMR/ICTMD Music in the Arab World Study Group

  • PALESTINIAN STORYTELLING EVENT WITH SARAH ABUSARAR: "TIMES WERE DIFFERENT THEN"

    Join us online for a performance and discussion with Sarah Abusarar on March 5th, starting at 1pm EST! Register at http://tinyurl.com/ykzv3372

  • TEACHING PALESTINE THROUGH MUSIC, DANCE, AND THE ARTS

    SAMR presents “Teaching Palestine through music, dance, and the arts: Tips and strategies for university educators.” Webinar available on YouTube.

  • EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES ON PALESTINE

    The Society for Arab Music Research is pleased to share with you the first of our education initiative series on Palestinian music and cultural practices. Curated with university-level music and dance educators in mind, “Educational Resources on Palestine” offers a set of resources for those who wish to address Palestine and Palestine studies in their classrooms, especially in light of the recent escalation in Gaza. We invite you to think of these resources as a starting point for understanding the role of music, dance, sound, and performance in Palestinian everyday life, cultural histories, and political resistance.

  • SAMR AT SEM 2023

    The following list of presentations feature papers related to music in the Arab world. All presentations are in person (ET time zone) and open to conference attendees. Please note: the SAMR business meeting on Saturday, 21 October, is open to online attendees (see Zoom link below to join the meeting).

  • SAMR AT SEM 2022

    Saturday, Nov. 12, 12:15-1:15 pm: SAMR Keynote Lecture, “Envisioning Arab Music Research” by Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco, Professor Emerita of Ethnomusicology at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) in Portugal (Location: Canal)  Join by ZOOM HERE: https://zoom.us/j/94525587184

  • SAMR AT SEM2021: ARAB MUSIC PANELS AND PAPERS

    The annual SEM meeting is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Guilnard Moufarrej with any additions or corrections.)

  • CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - INDIVIDUAL ABSTRACTS AND PANEL SPONSORSHIP - SEM CONFERENCE 2021

    The Society for Arab Music Research Special Interest Group seeks to sponsor individual papers and organized sessions (panels and/or roundtables) to be submitted for consideration for the 2021 Society for Ethnomusicology conference, currently scheduled for 28-31 October in Atlanta, Georgia.

  • WELCOMING NEW SAMR CHAIR-ELECT, JARED HOLTON

    I am happy to announce that Jared Holton, a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, has accepted the nomination for the next chair-elect position.

  • SAMR AT SEM2020: ARAB MUSIC PANELS AND PAPERS

    The annual SEM meeting in coming up and there are a number of sessions on the program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Beau Bothwell with any additions or corrections.)

  • DISSERTATIONS IN ARAB MUSIC: MOHAMMAD MOUSSA KHALAF'S ARABIC FUSION MUSIC

    This post describes a recent or nearly-complete dissertation on an Arab music topic as part of our series on Dissertations in Arab Music. See here for information on how to share your own work.

  • WELCOME TO DR. GUILNARD MOUFARREJ, CHAIR-ELECT

    Dear Colleagues,

  • SAMR AT SEM2019: THURSDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Bloomington is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2019: FRIDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Bloomington is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2019: SATURDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Bloomington is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2019: SUNDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Bloomington is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • 2019 BUSINESS MEETING UPDATES, PUBLICATION EFFORTS, AND NOMINATIONS

    As we prepare for our annual business meeting in Bloomington in November, I invite your participation in two new efforts that grow out of our survey results from earlier this year. Based on your responses, we are going to change up the business meeting structure and open the possibility of a SAMR-organized publication series.

  • DISSERTATIONS IN ARAB MUSIC: WASSIM NADER ODEH'S THE MUSICAL LANGUAGE OF THE EGYPTIAN COMPOSER MUHAMMAD 'ABD EL-WAHHAB

    This post describes a recent or nearly-complete dissertation on an Arab music topic as part of our series on Dissertations in Arab Music. See here for information on how to share your own work.

  • DISSERTATIONS IN ARAB MUSIC: CHRISTOPHER ORR'S COME, ASK MY HEART

    This post describes a recent or nearly-complete dissertation on an Arab music topic as part of our series on Dissertations in Arab Music. See here for information on how to share your own work.

  • 2019 SEM PANEL SPONSORSHIP

    As 2019 gets underway, I invite you to consider a few SAMR-related activities. The most pressing and, perhaps, the most central to our organization is the upcoming Society for Ethnomusicology conference in Bloomington, Indiana. That event will be held from November 7th to 10th, 2019.

  • WELCOME TO BEAU BOTHWELL, SAMR CHAIR-ELECT

    I’d like to formally welcome Beau Bothwell of Kalamazoo College as the inaugural “chair-elect” of SAMR. As discussed in our meeting in Albuquerque, Beau’s position will change to “chair” upon the election of a new chair-elect, most likely following our next meeting at SEM in Bloomington, IN. Beau shared some thoughts when expressing his willingness to serve that are worth including here:

  • DISSERTATIONS IN ARAB MUSIC: PHILIP MURPHY'S ANNIHILATION IN GOD & LIVING IN THE WORLD

    This post describes a recent or nearly-complete dissertation on an Arab music topic as part of our new series on Dissertations in Arab Music. See here for information on how to share your own work.

  • SAMR AT SEM2018: OUR ANNUAL MEETING

    Thank you all for your continued membership and support of the Society for Arab Music Research. I have a few announcements, questions, and other items to share as we prepare for our annual membership meeting in Albuquerque. I invite you each to the session, which will be open to all SEM members, as always. This post outlines some of the questions that I intend to pose during that session with special attention on our organizational leadership structure and a proposal related to the Journal for Arab Music Research.

  • SAMR AT SEM2018: SUNDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Albuquerque is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2018: SATURDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Albuquerque is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2018: FRIDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Albuquerque is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2018: THURSDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Albuquerque is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • DISSERTATIONS IN ARABIC MUSIC

    In an effort to bring greater attention to the cutting edge research being done by graduate students around the world, The Society for Arab Music Research is creating a new series for its website (https://samr.club) called “Dissertations in Arab Music.” We invite posts from those who have recently completed their dissertations or are nearly finished. The subject matter should relate to Arab music, broadly defined, and the cultural production of the Middle East, North Africa, the Muslim world, and its diaspora.

  • CFP: SAMR PANELS FOR SEM 2018

    The Society for Arab Music Research (SAMR) invites members to submit abstracts to be selected for potential sponsorship for the SEM 63rd Annual Meeting on November 15-18, 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

  • CFP: MUSIC AND SOUND AT THE MEDITERRANEAN CROSSROADS

    Thank you to Alessandra Cuicci for reminding us about the upcoming deadline for proposals for the ICTM Study Group for Mediterranean Music Studies’s conference in Essaouira, Morocco. The event will be from June 19-24th and the deadline for submissions is November 17th. I’ll share the description here, but more information, including how to submit a proposal, is available at the conference website.

  • CFP: PRECARIOUS SOUNDS/SOUNDING SANCTUARY

    Thank you to Chris Nickell for sharing information on an upcoming conference at NYU on February 16 and 17th, 2018. He spoke to us about it at the Society for Arab Music Research meeting in Denver and it sounds like it will be fantastic. I’ll share the description here, but more information, including how to submit a proposal, is available at the conference website.

  • SAMR AT SEM2017: SUNDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Denver is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2017: SATURDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Denver is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2017: FRIDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Denver is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • SAMR AT SEM2017: THURSDAY'S ARAB MUSIC PANELS

    The annual SEM meeting in Denver is coming up and there are a number of sessions on the latest preliminary program related to Arab music, Islamic traditions, and the Middle East. Here are some to keep an eye out for. (Check back for updates and email Christopher Witulski with any additions or corrections.)

  • WELCOME TO THE NEW SAMR WEBSITE!

    The new SAMR page is (almost) live! This project is an effort to centralize useful information about scholars and scholarship on music in the Arab world. The page has three main features, as described below.

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