Funk Music in Popular Culture Conference Schedule

Friday, April 25

Bowen-Thompson Student Union, Room 314

8:45-9:20 a.m.      Registration | Check-In | Breakfast

9:20-9:30 a.m.      Introductory Remarks
Dr. Matthew A. Donahue, Teaching Professor, Department of Popular Culture, Bowling Green State University
Dr. Angela Nelson, Director, School of Cultural and Critical Studies, Bowling Green State University
Lindsay Miller, Director of Development and Community Engagement, WBGU-PBS, Bowling Green State University

9:35-10:00 a.m.    Funk, Past Present and Future
Have We Given Up the Funk? The Evolution of Funk from Its Origins to Now
Nolan Miller and Lucinda Busselle, Independent Scholars, Bowling Green State University

10:10-11:00 a.m.    Funk Media
The Seinfeld Riff:(Funk Music in Popular Television)
Dana Nemeth, Reference Archivist, Browne Popular Culture Library, Bowling Green State University

Baadasssss Songs (An Analysis): Blaxploitation Soundtracks and 1970’s Funk
Collin Felter, Ph.D. Student (Music History and Theory), Multi-Instrumentalist, University of California, Irvine

11:10 a.m. to Noon    Funk, Punk and Alternative Music
Jazz, Punk, or Harmolodic Funk:  Considering Race and Genre in the Early 1980s Downtown Scene
Ken Prouty, Professor of Musicology and Jazz Studies, Michigan State University

American Funk Influence on Ohio Alternative Music Acts in the late 1980s & early 1990s
Walter “Mac” McKeever, Audio Recording & Music Technology, Musician/Music Producer, Owens Community College

12:05-1:05 p.m.    Lunch

1:10-1:50 p.m.      Funk Metal Roundtable
Jeremy Wallach, Professor, Bowling Green State University
Mark LeVine, Professor, University of California, Irvine
Kevin Fellezs, Associate Professor, Columbia University
Brian A. Hickam, Independent Scholar
Paige Carter Dailey, Adjunct Instructor, Bowling Green State University

2:00-2:50 p.m.    Funk Keynote Address
Marking History: Zapp and the Troutman Sound Labs
Co-presenters Jacqueline Hudson, Ph.D. and Kari Boroff, M.A., Independent Scholars

3:00-3:50 p.m.    Funk Detroit and Midwest
The Borderlands of Funk and Soul
Samantha Mecca, Professor of Dance and Music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance, University of Michigan

James Brown and the I-75 Media Machine
Roger Lapointe, Music Journalist

4:00-4:25 p.m.    Funk
FUNK is a Four-Letter Word: A Retired Prof. Sweats Out One More
Paul D. Fischer, Professor (retired), Department of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University

4:35-5:20 p.m.    Funk Women and Funk Future
Feeling the Funk: Pleasure and Transcendence in ‘Mama Feelgood’
Rachael Dennis, Musicology, University of Cincinnati

Defending the Cultural Relativity of Funk Music: A Critical Thinking Perspective
Andre Love, MLA Professor of English, Langston University

Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater, Room 206

6:00-7:00 p.m.      WE WANT THE FUNK! – Film Screening

Saturday, April 26

Bowen-Thompson Student Union, Room 314

9:05-9:35 a.m.      Registration | Check-In | Breakfast

9:40-10:50 a.m.    Funk Stuff
Prawns and Barriers: How a Literature Review Demonstrates the Need for More Scholarship on Funk Metal
Brian A. Hickam, Independent Scholar

More Graphic = More Self-Aware: Revealing the Aesthetics of Funk (and Oneself) Through Album Cover Art
Peter Lusch, MFA, Assistant Teaching Professor of Graphic Design, School of Art, Bowling Green State University

An Overview of Funky Things and Sounds at BGSU’s Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives
Trinidad Linares, Library Associate, Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives, Bowling Green State University
Valerie Lines, Sound Archives Librarian, Music Library & Bill Schurk Sound Archives, Bowling Green State University

11:00-11:50 a.m.    Funk Diversity and DC
The “Diverse City” Created in Today’s Christian Music Industry- TobyMac's Advocacy for Diverse Representation in Christian Music
Kayla Minniear, Adjunct Instructor, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Bowling Green State University 

How C.C. Got Down: The Case for Go-Go and How Funk Thrived Past the 1970s in Washington, D.C.
Melissa A. Weber, Curator, Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, Tulane University Special Collections.

11:55 a.m. to 12:55 p.m.    Lunch

1:00-2:10 p.m.    Funk Horns and Bass
Horn Lines of James Brown
Dr. Isaac Winland, Visiting Assistant Professor of Instrumental Music, Hiram College

Funk Bass and Representations of Blackness in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Dr. Matthew Valnes, Visiting Assistant Professor of Musicology, University of Maryland, College Park

Slappin’ Da Bass: The Evolution of the Electric Bass Guitar
Christopher Barrick, Director and Professor, School of Music & Dance, Eastern Michigan University

2:20-3:10 p.m.    Funk
Can Nakamura Speak? Performing Black Female Power in France
Dr. Anne-Sabine Nicolas, Lecturer III of French, University of New Mexico

Funky as in Black: On the Feeling of a Musical Quality
Dr. Victoria Netanus Xaka, Assistant Professor, Department of Music, Cornell University

Bowen-Thompson Student Union Theater, Room 206

3:30-4:45 p.m.      Keynote Address
Cinemasonics, Trippy Notes for Bass…One Life in Music…Legacy Interview…Demonstration
Doug Wimbish, Bassist, Producer, Ambience Director
Living Colour, Sugar Hill Records, Tackhead, Rolling Stones

We’d like to share some general information about the conference. Conference speakers and prospective attendees, we hope this helps you plan your trip. Please feel free to share this information with your community. 

FAQs:

Does the conference cost anything for presenters or attendees? 

We are pleased to inform you that there are no fees associated with the conference!  Thanks to generous sponsors and donors, the conference is free for presenters and attendees.   

Who is the special guest speaker for the event? 

The special guest speaker at this conference is Doug Wimbish, bass player from Living Colour, Tackhead, the Sugar Hill Records house band, Wood Brass and Steel and many other music projects for over 50 years.  More information on Mr. Wimbish can be found on his website.

Bowen-Thompson Student Union - BGSU Campus Map and Parking

The conference is being held at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union on the campus of Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. For specific room information, please refer to the conference schedule. Here is an online interactive map of campus.

Paid parking will be available on a limited basis next to the Bowen-Thompson Student Union in Lot 7.  Here is a campus parking map.

What’s the best way to get to Bowling Green for out-of-state travelers? 

If you are flying in for the conference, the Detroit Airport is located approximately 80 minutes away and the Toledo Express Airport is located 30 minutes away. You have the option to rent a car or use a rideshare service like Lyft or Uber from either of the airports. Please visit the BGSU College of Arts and Sciences travel page for more information and resources about traveling to campus. 

Staying in the Bowling Green, Ohio/Toledo, Ohio area? 

We do have a limited block of hotel rooms at the TownePlace Suites, 2851 Navarre Avenue, Oregon, Ohio, 43616. This is approximately a 30-minute car drive from Bowling Green, Ohio. The block rate is available until April 10.

Bowling Green has a vibrant Air BnB and VRBO scene with many rentals available. 

Listings in Bowling Green, Ohio on VRBO.

Listings for Bowling Green, Ohio on Air BnB.

Listings on hotels.com for Bowling Green, Ohio and the Bowling Green area.

Listings on hotels.com for Perrysburg, Ohio, which is 20 minutes away from Bowling Green.

Listings on hotels.com for Maumee, Ohio, which is 30 minutes away from Bowling Green.

Listings on hotels.com for Toledo, Ohio, which is 30 minutes away from Bowling Green.

Tourism Information

Bowling Green, Ohio Tourism Information

Toledo, Ohio Tourism Information (Toledo is approximately 30 minutes away from Bowling Green)

Feel free to contact us with any other questions at funkmusic@bgsu.edu.