Reading Group
Welcome to the Music Industry Research Collective (MIRC) Music Studies Reading Group, which has been running in various forms and across various institutions, led by Tami Gadir, since 2015.
In its current incarnation, it is hosted at RMIT University (City Campus), School of Media and Communication.
The reading group is open to people at any stage of their music-related studies, from undergraduate students to full professors to retired scholars. Music industry or music industry-adjacent people are also welcome, including teachers of all kinds.
It is run voluntarily in the spirit of service to the academic and broader community and there is no cost for attendance.
Find out more about the reading group and join the mailing list here.
2024
February 14
Discussion led by Gay Breyley on: Withers, Polly. “Digital Feminisms in Palestinian Hip Hop.” Global Hip Hop Studies 2, no. 2 (2021): 159–177.
July 10
Discussion led by Tyra Baker from the University of Westminster on: Driver, Christopher, and Andy Bennett. “Music Scenes, Space and the Body.” Cultural Sociology 9, no. 1 (2015): 99–115.
September 25
Discussion led by Catherine Strong on: Dougher, Sarah. “The Closing of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland”. Popular Music and Society Vol. 47 No. 2 (2024): 119-136.
March 12
Discussion led by Guest author, Nicolò Palazzetti (Sapienza Università di Roma) on: “Opera Fandom in the Digital Age: A Case Study from the Teatro alla Scala.” The Opera Quarterly (2023): 1–25.
June 11
Discussion led by Jack Melton from the University of Melbourne on: Morris, Jeremy Wade and Powers, Devon. “Control, curation and musical experience in streaming music services” (2015).
August 14
Discussion led by Mark Gibson on: Wark, McKenzie. “Rave as Practice.” Raving. Duke University Press, 2023: 1–10.
Reading Group Goals
To get together with peers to share ideas and remain connected to a community of scholarly practice.
To read and learn from sources outside of our own specialized areas.
To read across musical genres, historical periods, disciplines, and methods.
To improve analytical and critical reading skills.
For students and earlier career scholars: to build confidence, learn from others, and gain experience in a low-pressure, welcoming setting.
For mid-later career scholars and retired scholars: to stay in dialogue, exchange ideas with, and gain inspiration from, students and colleagues.
For students and scholars from non-English speaking backgrounds: a low-pressure and welcoming setting to practice your spoken communication of scholarly ideas.
For those who tend to work alone such as PhDs and postdocs: to anchor your month in a regular meetup and maintain connection with a scholarly community.
For those with teaching-heavy workloads: to provide motivation to continue reading when there is little time or impetus to do so otherwise.
For those who research music topics but do not belong to an easily defined discipline: to have a group of peers to share work and ideas with and be part of a scholarly community.