Call for Session Chairs & Discussants

Deadline: 1 May 2026, 11:59 p.m. EDT

The American Musicological Society (AMS) is calling for volunteers to serve as chairs and discussants of sessions at the online 2026 AMS Annual Meeting, which will be held on 14–15 November and 19–20 November 2026. Chair and discussant volunteers are assigned based on availability of sessions and the volunteer’s area of expertise, and so the AMS cannot guarantee that all chair volunteers will be assigned a session. Please note the distribution of session topics depends on the proposals received each year.

The roles of session chair and discussant are vital. Chairs provide support for presenters and ensure an equitable distribution of time and audience attention. Discussants share cogent, generative responses to paper forums in the spirit of sparking dialogue.

The deadline to complete the chair and discussant volunteer sign-up form is 1 May 2026, 11:59 p.m. EDT. You must be logged into the AMS website and be a current AMS member to access the sign-up form.

Eligibility

In order to volunteer, you must be a current AMS member and hold a PhD in musicology or a related field, or equivalent professional status in a related field (such as archival and library sciences).

If you have any questions, please contact the AMS office at events [at] amsmusicology.org.

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