Virtual Town Hall Meeting

Our Community of Practice (CoP) has grown wonderfully over the last couple of years, and we intend to sustain its work and continue to expand its reach.
 
We must acknowledge, however, that the CoP was originally envisioned by the leadership of the Music and Disability Study Group of the American Musicological Society – initially by the previous leadership cohort, and then by current leadership.
 
Our next Community of Practice meeting, on Wednesday, Sept. 16 from 12-2 p.m. Eastern on Zoom, will therefore focus on the role of the AMS Disability Study Group and its continuation as a component of the CoP.
Please register for the session at the following link:
https://utexas.zoom.us/meeting/register/PIlCN-5XRziPGgLAP8K75A#/registration
 
The current Study Group leadership has now been in their roles for almost two years.  The Study Group has always attempted to rotate leadership. Recently we have preferred to have two co-Chairs, one more experienced in the field and the other less so, in order to empower junior members and honor the institutional memory of those further along professionally.  
 
The Study Group has been in conversation with AMS leadership on themes of greater access to the national AMS meeting (disability-informed, but with broad access concerns) and we believe that we have made progress.  However, various developments since the most recent AMS meeting in Minneapolis have seen tensions gather between AMS membership and the current Board.  We would thus understand the concern members of our CoP might have with investing in the AMS as a society.
 
We see the purposes of this Community of Practice meeting on September 16 as the following:
 
1. Discuss the current leadership initiatives of the Music and Disability Study Group
2. Discuss future goals and possible initiatives of the Study Group.
3. Determine interest among CoP members who are AMS members or intend to join the AMS to nominate themselves for leadership positions in the Study Group.
 
Based on the outcome of our conversations, we would communicate with all current members of the Study Group and propose elections for new leadership to take place later this year.
 
We hope to see you on September 16 to help us shape the future of the AMS Music and Disability Study Group within our Music and Disability Community of Practice!