All times listed are Central Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -5:00 hours)
8:30am to 10:00am Tangled Up in Bob Dylan II
The second session sponsored by our partners at the University of Southern Denmark uses Dylan to tangle up literature, the classical world, and contemporary musical performance. Together, this group will explore how Dylan has inspired diverse new research in the classics, in contemporary literature, and music.
The Classical Dylan
Richard Thomas
Dylan and Modern Literature
Anne Marie Mai
This Is Not A Love Story with a special performance of “Soon There Will Be Light”
Michael Falch
10:30am to 12:00pm 21st-Century Dylan
On the occasion of Dylan’s eightieth birthday, this panel will ask how new voices and new media are changing the conversation surrounding Bob Dylan’s work in the twenty-first century. This panel discussion will be led by Laura Tenschert, host of the Definitely Dylan podcast and radio show, which offers a fresh, feminist perspective to our developing understanding of the artist and his work.
How Do We Talk about Bob Dylan in the 21st Century?
Laura Tenschert
Puzzles and Treasure Maps: Subtext Through Appropriation
Scott Warmuth
Bob Nation: Twitter, Tweens, and Twinks
Rebecca Slaman
Bob Dylan’s Queer Gesture
Ludovic Foster
1:00pm to 2:30pm Bob Dylan’s History
Last year, Dylan surprised us all with the release of his first new album of new material in eight years. Rough and Rowdy Ways was hailed by critics and fans for its complex, thoughtful, and deeply human exploration of American history, music, and identity. And this continues a theme that is evident in everything from Dylan’s classical references to his Civil War ballads and probing meditations on the “love and theft” that defines his engagement with the past. In this keynote session, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz will set the singer-songwriter’s work in the larger context of American history by asking how Dylan’s creative histories look to a historian.
3:00pm to 4:30pm New Books on Dylan: A Roundtable Conversation
In the last few years, a diverse array of new books on Dylan’s music, politics, art, and legacy have appeared. This roundtable session will gather together several of the authors for a lively discussion of their ideas and insights on topics ranging from the creation of Infidels to Dylan’s long history of performance in London. Publisher discounts for featured books will be available.
Surviving in A Ruthless World: Bob Dylan’s Voyage to Infidels
Terry Gans
Listening to Bob Dylan: Experiencing and Re-Experiencing Dylan’s Music
Larry Starr
Dreams and Dialogues in Dylan’s Time Out of Mind
Graley Herren
Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen: Deaths and Entrances
Lucy & David Bucher
Bob Dylan in London: Troubadour Tales
KG Miles
5:00pm to 6:00pm Eric Andersen in Conversation with Jeff Slate
On this final day of the conference, we will once again feature another great singer-songwriter who will talk broadly about the ways in which Dylan shaped his craft and
what he can still teach artists who are working in this vibrant tradition. Eric Andersen first came to prominence in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s, where he honed his craft alongside Dylan, Dave van Ronk, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. In the years that followed, he grew into what Rolling Stone has called “one of our finest singers and songwriters, in the most literal sense of that tradition.” He has released 30 albums of his own material and his work has been covered by Gillian Welch, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead, and many more. He is the subject of the new PBS documentary, Songpoet. This conversation will range broadly across life, work, and career and will help us better understand Dylan’s art and artistry.
7:00pm to 8:30pm World of Dylan Launch
In May, Cambridge University Press will publish The World of Bob Dylan, a major new collection that provides a diverse look at the singer-songwriter’s music, creativity, art, politics, and legacy. It features twenty-seven essays by scholars, critics, and journalists from around the world. This session will feature a discussion of the book with some of its key contributors who will explore what it means for Dylan to enter into our shared musical and cultural histories. Moderated by Ray Ryan, Senior Commissioning Editor at Cambridge University Press.
Branding Bob Dylan
Devon Powers
Roots Music
Kim Ruehl
Dylan as Nobel Laureate
Jim English
Dylan and American Literature
Florence Dore
Better Duck Down the [Tin Pan] Alleyway, Lookin’ for a New Friend
Larry Starr
Dylan at Work
Sean Latham
Closing Remarks: Take Me Back to Tulsa