Schedule and program details for the 2019 Phish Studies Conference are below. Please note that some details are subject to change.
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Phish Studies Program
Friday, May 17
| 9:00am-12:00pm | Registration |
| 10:00am-11:30am | “Can We Live While We’re Young?!” A Guided Listening Session through Chalk Dust Torture Jacob A. Cohen, Steven Reale, and Julie Viscardi-Smalley |
| 12:00pm-12:30pm | Welcome & Opening Remarks Stephanie Jenkins Nicole von Germeten |
| 12:30pm-1:15pm | Keynote Address Jnan Blau, “We Are Aphicionados, We Are Vernacular Theorists!: A Critical Reconsideration and Anti-Hegemonic Recasting of Phish, Phandom and Fan Praxis” |
| 1:30pm-3:00pm | Panel Session |
| Shiny Music that Descends from Overhead: The Significance of Improvisation Moderator: Dana Reason Steven Reale, “Breathing Deep in a Steam Dream: Structural Fog and the Persistence of Groove in a Split Open and Melt Jam” Daniel Knorr, “Motive Constructs in the Music of Phish: Redefining What it Means to ‘Jam’” David Rosen, “The Neuroscience of the Jam: A Research Paradigm to Study Brain Interactivity Underlying Improvisation in Phish” Julie Viscardi-Smalley, “Up the Mountain: The Compositional Use of the Arpeggiated Augmented Triad in Anastasio’s ‘Colonel Forbin’s Ascent’ as Performed by Phish” |
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| 3:15pm-4:45pm | Panel Session |
| Perception is Spoonfed: Phish, Art, and Experience Moderator: Sharyn Clough Michael Sell, “Photo Gods and Rock ‘n’ Roll Monsters: Portraits of Phish Fans” Kristine Warrenburg Rome, “Unpredictable Phamiliarity: Atopy Performance Art and the Fourth Persona” Joseph Dresch, “Kasvot from the Couch: Medium, Perception, and Experience: 10.31.18” Jason Maas, “Phish: The Good Breast: An Examination of the Phish phenomenon and the Extensive Dedication of their Fans with an Object Relations and Attachment Theory Approach” |
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| 5:00pm-6:30pm | Panel Session |
| We’re All in this Together: Race and Racism in the Phish Community Moderator: Jane Waite Kate Aly-Brady, Daniel J. Budiansky, Adam Lioz, and Rupa Mitra,“White Phragility: Race-Talk and Backlash in the Phish Scene” Joong Won Kim, Nathaniel G. Chapman, & David L. Brunsma, “‘Is This Your First Show?’: White Racism and Subcultural Capital in the Phish Community” Paul Livingston and Laura J. Livingston, “This is Your Song Too: Race and Exclusivity in the Phish Community” Jim Vernon, “’Control for Smilers Can’t be Bought’: Phish’s White Rebellion Against White Rebellion” |
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| 6:30pm | Below the Moss Forgotten: Phish in the Pacific Northwest Opening Reception (catered) Curator: Alexander Grosby Exhibitor: Pete Mason |
| 10:00pm | Left on Wilson Concert DeMaggio’s New York Pizza 151 NW Monroe Ave #102 Corvallis, OR 97330 |
Saturday, May 18
| 9:00am-10:30am | Panel Session |
| Setlists, Ratings, and Archives: Do You Have to Count Them? Moderator: Ellis Godard Paul Jakus, “Come Waste Your Time: Do Phish.net Show Ratings Correlate with Setlist Elements?” Matthew Sottile, “A Graph-Theoretic Approach to Setlist Structure Analysis” Hannah Mieczkowski, “The Language of 3.0: Analyzing Show Reviews on Phish.net” Wyatt Young, “Reconvene, Reconnect: How Phish Fans Collect Identity and Build Archives” |
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| 10:45am-12:15pm | Poster Session and Exhibition Fair View Poster Presentations Exhibition Fair Participants |
| 12:15pm-1:15pm | Lunch (catered) |
| 1:15pm-2:15pm | Panel Session |
| Alumni Blues: Student Scholars Moderator: Andrew Jones Michael Coiro, “The ‘Fukuoka Twist’: Traversing Ambience and Intimacy through Setting” Lynnea Fredrickson, “’You Enjoy Myself’”: A Look at Interpersonal Relationships and Cultural Personhood in the Phish Community” Nick Kaatz, “Phish’s Rate of Growth” Michael Moran-Kay, “What is IT?” |
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| 2:30pm-4:00pm | Panel Session |
| Companions on this Ride: Phish Fan Community and Culture Moderator: Marta Kunecka Christina Allaback, “Phish Fans as Post-Subcultures: Losing The Meaning of Style” Denise Goldman, “Phamily Ethos: An Exploratory Analysis of Communication and Community Building on Social Media Site ‘Phish Chicks’” Natalie Dollar, Nicholaus Dahl, Alexa Tawzer, and Nathan Goldberg, “Communication Improvisation as Dialogue: A Framework for Understanding Phans and Deadheads” Robert Gardner, “Birds of a Feather: Concerted Concerting in the Phish Show Experience” |
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| 4:15pm-5:45pm | Panel Session |
| We Come from the Land of Gamehendge: Community, Identity, & Utopia Moderator: Allen Thompson Robert Wuagneux, “‘We’re All in this Together’: Liveness, Community, and Identity in Phish’s Virtual Domain” Elizabeth Yeager, “‘I Strive to Convey What You Strive to Condone’: Phish Scene Identity and Understanding America.” Garrett Troy, “Utopian Imaginings in the Music of Phish” Benjy Eisen, “The Words I Sailed Upon: Form and Function in Phish’s Lyrical Heritage” |
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| 6:00pm-7:00pm | Fly Famous Mockingbirds: Phish.net Community Panel Moderator: Natalie Dollar “We’re All in This Together” Q&A Session Ellis Godard Brian Feller Charlie Dirksen Scott Marks David “ZZYZX” Steinberg |
| 7:00pm-9:00pm | We’ve Got It Simple sneak peek (catered) Q&A with Michael Ryan Lawrence (Director) Moderator: Benjy Eisen |
Sunday, May 19
| 9:00am-10:15am | Panel Session |
| Healing the Symptoms: Recovery and Access ASL interpretation will be provided for this session. To request accommodation for disability, please review the conference accessibility information page. Moderator: Chandra Char John Boatner, “Addressing Addiction within the Phish Community Through the Phellowship” Joel Gershon, “‘Inside This Silent Scene, All Are Free’: An Assessment of Accessibility Issues Facing Deaf/Hard of Hearing (HoH) Fans at Phish Concerts” Margaret Cooper, “Whatever It Takes: A Physical Therapy Approach to Phish” |
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| 10:30am-12:00pm | Panel Session |
| Buckets Full of Thoughts: Philosophical Approaches to Phish Moderator: Geoff Barstow Alex Gillham, “Toward a Virtue Ethics of Phish” Stephanie Jenkins, “Read The Book: Performing Public Philosophy” Ben Bunting, “‘How Can I Answer Questions I’ve Known’: Representations of Nature in Phish’s Lyrics” Jason Del Gandio, “Pulsating with Love and Light’: A Case Study on Phish and the Vibe” |
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| 12:00pm-1:30pm | Lunch (on your own) |
| 1:45pm-3:00pm | Panel Session |
| Just Relax, You’re Doing Fine: The Health Risks and Benefits of Phish Moderator: Elizabeth Schuyler Andrew Garrett, “Curveball 2018: Reviewing the Potential Public Health Risks of Large-Scale Music Festivals” Isaac Slone, “Phish as a Therapeutic Force” Christina Chiarelli-Helminiak, “Phish(ing) as a Form of Self-Care” |
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| 3:15pm-4:45pm | Panel Session |
| People of the (Helping Friendly) Book: Jews, Judaism, and Phish Moderator: Flora Leibowitz Oren Kroll-Zeldin, “‘We’re All Here Together in this Spirit Family’: Phish and the Cultivation of Jewish Cultural Identity in the Twenty-First Century” Rabbi Josh S. Ladon, “Does God Ever Listen to What I Say?: The Role of Phish in Jewish Clergy Spiritual Development” Jacob A. Cohen, “‘I Tell Myself I’m Part of a Tribe’: Performing Jewish Identity and Community through Phish’s ‘Avenu Malkenu’” Rabbi Jessy Dressin, “‘Where the People Come to Pray’: Sacred Pilgrimage, Holy Ritual and Communal Rejoicing from Jerusalem to YEMSG” |
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| 5:00pm-7:00pm | Community Panel Session & Book Signing “Writing about Music is Dancing to Architecture: Q&A with Benjy Eisen” Moderator: Stephanie Jenkins |
| 7:00pm | Closing |