Held online on 4 December 2023.

Chair: Lee Tong Soon, ICTMD Secretary General.

In attendance (Study Group representatives):African Musics (Susanne Fürniss, Linda Cimardi), Audiovisual Ethnomusicology (Marija Dumnić Vilotijević), Ethnochoreology (Andriy Nahachewsky), Iconography of the Performing Arts (Mark van Tongeren), Mediterranean Music Studies (Vanessa Paloma Elbaz), Multipart Music (Ardian Ahmedaja), Music and Dance in Latin America and the Caribbean-LATCAR (Javier Silvestrini, Juan Sebastián Rojas), Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe (Mehmet Öcal Özbilgin), Music and Dance of the Slavic World (Ulrich Morgenstern), Music in the Arab World (Anas Ghrab), Music, Education and Social Inclusion-MESI (James Nissen), Music, Gender, and Sexuality (Grace Takyi), Performing Arts of Southeast Asia-PASEA (Made Mantle Hood), Sacred and Spiritual Sounds and Practices (Marcia Ostashewski). Also attending: Lonán Ó Briain (General Editor, Yearbook for Traditional Music).

The meeting followed the attached agenda. 

1. Opening of meeting and introduction of the agenda

1. Lee Tong Soon opened the meeting at 13:05 (UTC), welcoming all Study Group authorities. 

2. Name of the journal

2. Lonán Ó Briain, General Editor of the Yearbook for Traditional Music, provided a brief overview of the process leading up to discussions about the journal’s name change. He had sent a message about this to the ICTMD membership and had received some constructive feedback.

3. Susanne Fürniss (African Musics), Mark van Tongeren (Indigenous Music and Dance), and Vanessa Paloma Elbaz (Mediterranean Music Studies) noted they had forwarded Ó Briain's message to their respective Study Groups.

4. Elbaz further asked whether there would be changes to the number of articles published. Ó Briain answered that ICTMD and CUP had jointly established a set number of pages that could change from time to time, but that ICTMD needs to stay within that set number to avoid incurring in additional costs. Ó Briain  estimated that the journal would publish about 12 articles per year across the two issues.

5. Made Mantle Hood (Performing Arts of Southeast Asia) noted that the term “Yearbook” is part of the journal’s identity, and that this would make a case for retaining “Yearbook” in the new name. Ó Briain conveyed that he had received feedback from several parties supporting the keeping of “Yearbook.” Both highlighted the importance of what colleagues involved in the marketing and distribution of the journal had to say about the name, in relation to the impact on name recognition.

6. van Tongeren wondered how many members still opted to receive the printed version of the Yearbook. Lee responded that the trend in the past few years had been moving towards preferring online-only access. 
    

3. Publications in multiple languages

7. Lee mentioned that the January 2024 issue of the Bulletin would include a country report in Spanish, and asked for the group’s thoughts and concerns about using multiple languages in ICTMD publications, given the global push for diversity and inclusivity.

8. Javier Silvestrini (LATCAR) mentioned that his Study Group had experience using multiple languages. For example, their bylaws are published in three languages (i.e., Spanish, Portuguese, and English), and their Study Group symposia allow presentations to be delivered in all three languages, which has had a "profound impact" on new members. Silvestrini offered LATCAR's support in helping ICTMD on this matter.

9. Fürniss noted that English was a major obstacle for colleagues in Francophone Africa to join ICTMD. She further mentioned that official information of the Study Group on African Musics is available in English, French, and Portuguese.

10. Fürniss also offered her Study Group's help for the general ICTMD membership, and noted that the supported membership application form should provide a French translation. She added that space should be given to include of other languages, like in the ICTMD Brochures.

11. Fürniss made the distinction between allowing different languages for communication, and the use of multiple languages for publications. She opined that more work could be done to enhance the fundamental level of communications in ICTMD,  and that publishing abstracts in different languages was "a good start" towards broadening the Council's outreach.

12. James Nissen (MESI) considered "important" that language would not be a barrier to participation in Study Group activities.

13. Nissen suggested that mentoring might help in cases where a non-English article submitted for publication is not up to scratch in terms of language, though the key ideas may be there. Ó Briain explained the challenges in looking for peer reviewers and mentors for different languages and asked a key question: “how do we choose a language to focus on, besides that/those of the location of a World Conference?”

14. Juan Bermúdez (LATCAR) suggested to broaden the role of the Executive Board Committee for Translations, which could help with publications. He further suggested that the journal considers establishing a policy that would more easily enable the republishing of articles in other languages.

15. Several participants suggested that the online publication of an article translated into multiple languages might be an effective first step forward in terms of accessibility and equity in the transfer of knowledge. Ó Briain noted that accessibility might differ for an article originally published in English in the journal (i.e., limited access) and its translations published online (i.e., potentially accessible by everyone).

16. In terms of peer reviews, Bermúdez suggested that ICTMD National and Regional Representatives, with their respective network of colleagues, could be a good source to tap on to broaden the potential of publishing in multiple languages.

17. Elbaz, Silvestrini, and Mehmet Öcal Özbilgin (Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe) provided examples from their Study Groups on how translations of online presentations (e.g., made by the Chair of a given panel, with the help of automated translation technologies, and giving priority to the language of the host country/location) had produced positive outcomes.

18. Andriy Nahachewsky (Ethnochoreology), considered that for abstracts submitted in different languages, mentoring could be helpful in further encouraging the use of multiple languages in ICTMD presentations and publications.

4. Any other concerns

19. Marcia Ostashewski (Sacred and Spiritual Sounds and Practices) reminded the participants of the abstract mentoring programme available for the 48th ICTMD World Conference (Wellington, New Zealand, January 2025).

5. Adjournment

20. The meeting was adjourned at 14:15 UTC.