Soundscapes of events: Theoretical Perspectives and Methodological Challenges

Call for papers

!!! New DEADLINE – 6 november, 2026 !!!

17–19 February, 2027
Universidade de Évora, CESEM/IN2PAST

Events constitute privileged settings for the production, circulation, and transformation of soundscapes, forming complex, temporary, and dynamic ecosystems. Fairs, festivals, exhibitions, concerts, religious celebrations, demonstrations, sporting events, historical reenactments, and community gatherings are all contexts in which sound actively contributes to shaping experiences, identities, memories, and relationships with place.

The interdisciplinary study of soundscapes, drawing on contributions from fields such as Musicology, Anthropology, History, Geography, Heritage Studies, Sociology, among others, has increasingly highlighted the importance of sound as a social and cultural phenomenon. Nevertheless, soundscapes in event contexts remain relatively underexplored, both from a conceptual perspective and in terms of the methodologies employed to investigate them.

This conference aims to provide a forum for discussing the theoretical and methodological challenges involved in the study of soundscapes in event contexts. It seeks to foster critical reflection on concepts, approaches, and research tools that enable a better understanding of sound in its multiple historical, cultural, political, social, technological, and heritage dimensions.

We welcome proposals focusing on a wide range of event types, in both historical and contemporary contexts, as well as research that brings together different disciplines, methodologies, and analytical perspectives.

Proposals should address one of the following thematic strands, event related:

1. Historical Soundscapes, Memory, and Heritage
2. Sonic Ethnographies and Research Methodologies
3. Sound Mapping, Digital Technologies, and Archives
4. Listening, Experience, and Sonic Ecologies
5. Power, Identity, and Sonic Cultures
6. Urban sounds, architecture and acoustics

>>The conference is planned as an exclusively in-person event, and virtual (online) participation will not be available.<<

> Paper Proposal

Individual paper presentations will consist of a 20-minute presentation, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Authors should submit an abstract (approximately 300 words) together with a brief biographical note (approximately 100 words). The proposal should include the author’s name and institutional affiliation.

> Panel Proposal

Panels will last 90 minutes, comprising three 20-minute papers, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Panel proposals should be submitted by the panel organiser (approximately 200 words) and must include the abstracts of each individual paper (approximately 300 words each).

> Official conference languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

> Deadline for submission of proposals: 6 november

> Notification of acceptance: 30 november

> Provisional programme: 15 december

> Submission address: fairsound@uevora.pt

> Conference Webpage: https://fairsound.uevora.pt/index.php/conference2027/

> Fees for conference delegates:
– Professor/Researcher: 30€
– Students (PhD/master): 15 €

Conference organized within the framework of the exploratory project FAIRSOUND, reference: 2024.15968.PEX, https://doi.org/10.54499/2024.15968.PEX, funded by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

> Conference Proceedings

Accepted conference papers may be considered for publication in the conference proceedings volume (ISBN), subject to a peer-review process and acceptance by the editors, Pedro Moreira, Vanda de Sá and Rodrigo Teodoro de Paula.

More information soon.