ICTMD-IE 21st Annual Conference 2026: Broadcasting Music and Dance

RTÉ Donnybrook Campus, Dublin 4

17-18 April 2026

Email - ictmdireland2026@ucc.ie

Call for Papers

Keynote Speaker: Professor Christina Baade (McMaster University)

Call for Papers

ICTMD Ireland celebrates the diversity of traditions and practices of music and dance in Ireland and around the globe. In 2026 we celebrate one hundred years of public service broadcasting in Ireland, a milestone shared by many public broadcasters around the world in this decade. In response, the 2026 ICTMD Ireland Annual Conference invites contributions on the theme of “Broadcasting Music and Dance.” We invite contributions that reflect on local and international histories, approaches to commemoration, archives, and the futures of music and dance in public service broadcasting. We particularly welcome contributions focusing on:

• The economic, social, and environmental sustainability of broadcasting, of music, and of dance traditions

• Historical and historiographic reflection and theorisation on mediations between sounds, technologies, and human and non-human worlds

• Archives in their many guises – from institutional repositories and listener-generated recordings, to the embodied knowledge that is passed between practitioners and their apprentices

• How audiences are imagined, relationships with and between audiences, exploration of participatory models of production, the audience’s role in remembering and in (re)constructing archives of content, or any new research related to reception and audiences.

Proposals based on new research that does not directly engage with the conference theme will also be considered. We look forward to welcoming participants engaged in research across all musical genres in the fields of ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, musicology, popular music studies, and complementary disciplines.

Please note that all primary presenters must be members of ICTMD Ireland at the time of the conference. See membership details here.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 30 January 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by 20 February.

The conference will be run in accordance with the ICTMD Ireland Code of Conduct. By taking part in the conference, you agree to be bound by this code.

Submission Guidelines

To submit a proposal, please send an email attachment (.doc or .docx, not .pdf) to ictmdireland2026@ucc.ie by 6pm, Friday 30 January 2026 with the following details:

• Title of paper

• Abstract (max 300 words)

• Full name and institutional affiliation

• Short biography (max 100 words)

• Please state which of the following you are proposing:

  • Individual paper

  • Panel

  • Roundtable

  • Sound, film, or other media presentation

  • Poster

  • Performance-based presentation or workshop

  • Collaborative presentation

Please submit all information in a single Word document. Proposals will be anonymised prior to peer review, and applicants will be notified of the review process outcome by Friday 20 February 2026.

Travel Bursaries

ICTMD Ireland will invite student, independent and low-waged scholar members to apply for travel bursaries to attend the conference. Details of these bursaries will be circulated via the ICTMD Ireland members’ mailing list in early 2026.

Please note that this conference will be delivered entirely in person at the RTÉ Campus in Donnybrook, Dublin 4.

Programme Committee Chairs

Dr Jack Talty (University College Cork)

Dr Helen Gubbins (Independent)