Association for Korean Music Research Annual Meeting
Society for Ethnomusicology Meeting
Saturday, November 13, 12:00 pm
Wilshire Grand Rosewood Room
Los Angeles, California
Minutes
AKMR members, old and new, convened for the annual meeting at the Society for Ethnomusicology meeting in Los Angeles on November 13, 2010 under the direction of new President, Anderson Sutton, and Treasurer/Secretary Okon Hwang.
Attendance:
Those in attendance included Anderson Sutton, Okon Hwang, Sun-hee Koo, Jocelyn Clark, Yongdae Kim, Dongwon Kim, Joshua Pilzer, Yoo-young Kang, Katherine Lee, Melanie Pinkert, Stephanie Choi, Min Yang (?), Ri Choi, and Hilary Finchum-Sung
Collection of Dues:
Okon Hwang collected dues from both professional and student members. Student members paid $5 and professional members paid $10.
Election of New Board Members:
The previous board members had completed their service, which meant it was time to elect some new board members who will serve for the next two years. Five AKMR members volunteered to serve, and elections were held to choose the three individuals who would serve as board members. Hilary Finchum-Sung and Eunyoung Jung were elected to be the new members-at-large, and Ri Choi was elected to serve as the new student representative.
Agenda:
1 Website—Paul Yoon initiated the construction of the AKMR website, but it has since existed without substantial updates or renovations. A call for a website volunteer went out to those gathered, and Jocelyn Clark stepped up to the plate. Jocelyn Clark will be in charge of the website for the foreseeable future, and has agreed to begin work on the site during the winter holidays. Thank you Jocelyn!
2 AKMR Prize---The AKMR prize goes out yearly to the top student paper on a Korean music-related topic at the annual SEM meeting. Last year, the absence of an AKMR panel meant very little AKMR activity. Therefore, those gathered decided to consider papers from 2009 and 2010 with three possible results: 1. one winner for 2009, and one winner for 2010; 2. one winner chosen from the papers from both years; 3. no winner (if the submissions are judged to be unworthy of a prize. Yoonjah Choi, Kim Heesun, and Hilary Finchum-Sung will each read the papers and collectively decide on the winning paper.
3 Next Year’s Panel—One of the biggest concerns expressed by the AKMR membership is the visibility of the AKMR panel at the SEM meetings. Below is a list of the suggestions raised regarding next year’s panel:
A Should we join forces with ACMR for a joint panel?
i Hilary Finchum-Sung volunteered to work this out with Fred Lau
ii Fred Lau is interested in such a joint panel, and Hilary and Fred are discussing possible ways to make it work (update coming soon)
B Regarding Panel topics and format:
i Joshua suggested moving away from a Korea-only focus and, instead, making the panel a conceptually-based one, thus opening the AKMR panel to anyone who wished to participate. He also suggested bringing in a well-known discussant.
ii Jocelyn seconded Joshua’s suggestion, acknowledging that the AKMR panel has a tendency to look inward
iii Andy raised the concern that, since this is the AKMR panel, we need to really have a panel related to Korea or relevant research in and outside of Korea that directly relates to Korean music
iv Yoo-young said that Joshua’s suggestion is a good idea, but narrowing the field would be good in order to refine the panel a bit and make it more relevant to Korea. She suggested focusing on a concept, but limiting the panel’s breadth to East Asia
v Hilary Finchum-Sung seconded Yoo-Young’s idea, and also agreed with Joshua’s idea regarding a way we could broaden our reach: bringing in a well-known ethnomusicologist not involved in Korean music research who can serve as the discussant.
vi Andy noted that the biggest issue, beyond getting people to come, is holding on to the audience throughout the length of the panel. He suggested we adopt an Association for Asian Studies-style format, which means having three or four presentations followed by comments made by a well-known discussant. This means the Q and A would happen at the end of the panel.
vii Joshua suggested contacting Deborah Wong to serve as discussant, particularly if we do a panel on multiculturalism and music.
viii Some potential themes of the panel include: multiculturalism in East Asia, national music and identity.
C Okon Hwang discussed the two main ways AKMR panels had been formed in the past.
i a point person was identified at the AKMR meeting who hand-picked panel members.
ii a point person was identified at the AKMR meeting who then discussed possible themes through the Internet and then a call for submissions of abstract
4 Treasurer’s Report—Okon Hwang reported that as of September 30, 2010 the AKMR has $2,746.44 in the bank. She reminded us that the money for the AKMR prize comes from interest accumulated.
5 Other:
• Katherine Lee—the bibliography is something that needs to be continued. She has the materials, but we need someone who can devote time to compiling and updating the bibliography on a regular basis. Contact Katherine of interested in taking this on.
• Katherine Lee was awarded the Martin Hatch Prize by the Society for Asian Music for Best Student Paper (SEM 2009). Congratulations Katherine!!