Conference Notification | "Thinking through Sound: Making a Noisy Encyclopedia" International Conference

The international conference “Thinking through Sound: Making a Noisy Encyclopedia” will be held from October 23 to 27, 2026, at the School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology. The conference is organized by the Sound Studies Group/Sound Lab, led by Dr. Qiushi Xu, Assistant Professor at the School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology. Centered around The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Sound Studies, the conference will bring together the encyclopedia’s global editors and contributors, as well as scholars and practitioners from around the world in the field of sound studies.

 

Date: October 23–27, 2026

Venue: School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology
（Lecture Hall, 11th Floor, Building C1, Nanshan Zhiyuan）

 Center for the Humanities, Southern University of Science and Technology

 

 

Conference Overview

This international conference marks a renewed gathering of editors and contributors to the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Sound Studies, alongside invited scholars and practitioners from across the field. At a key stage in the development of the encyclopedia, it provides an opportunity to reflect on its progress, exchange ideas, and further advance the project collectively.

The program brings together cutting-edge work from across the diverse and interdisciplinary landscape of sound studies, including music, media, design, anthropology, gender studies, and emerging sound technologies. It highlights current directions and experimental approaches that continue to expand the field.

Hosted in China, the conference seeks to advance the global field of sound studies by fostering new dialogues and strengthening connections across disciplines and regions.

 

What is the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Sound Studies?

This encyclopedia has been a collective effort since early 2021, with seven co-editors spread across six time zones.

It brings together over 150 scholars and artists who are contributing original chapters on key concepts and works, as well as research areas and gaps within the wider field of sound studies.

 

The encyclopedia is divided into three volumes.

 

Volume 1: Disciplines, Spaces, Cultures 

– edited by 

Michael Bull (Professor of Sound Studies, University of Sussex, UK) 

Neil Verma (Associate Professor of Sound Studies, Northwestern University, USA)

 

Volume 2: Arts, Practices, Theories 

– edited by 

Holger Schulze (Professor of Musicology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) 

Kristin Moriah (Associate Professor of African American Literary Studies, Queen’s University, Canada)

 

Volume 3: Politics, Communities, Futures 

– edited by 

Jennifer Lynn Stoever (Associate Professor of English, Binghamton University, USA), 

Dolores Inés Casillas (Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA) 

Qiushi Xu (Assistant Professor of Sound Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology, China).

 

The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Sound Studies will be published in 2028.

 

 

Conference Program

 

 

Guest Biographies

 

Giorgio Biancorosso

Professor of Music and Director of the Society of Fellows in the Humanities, University of Hong Kong.

 

Michael Bull

Professor Emeritus of Media and Film and Professor of Sound Studies, University of Sussex.

 

Dolores Inés Casillas

Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, Acting Vice Chancellor for Inclusive Excellence, and Director of the Chicano Studies Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara.

 

Colin Siyuan Chinnery

Artist, curator, and co-founder of the Beijing Sound Art Museum.

 

Ryo IKESHIRO

Associate Professor, School of Creative Media; Deputy Leader of the MFA Programme and Co-director of Sound Lab, City University of Hong Kong.

 

Ling KANG

Associate Professor and Head of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature, Fudan University.

 

Hee Seng KYE
Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Music Research Center, Hanyang University.

 

Kristin Moriah

Associate Professor of African American Literature and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), Queen’s University.

 

Matthew Sansom

Professor, Associate Dean of the School of Culture and Creativity, and Head of Music, Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University.

 

Holger Schulze

Professor of Musicology and Principal Investigator of the Sound Studies Lab, University of Copenhagen.

 

Piji SHEN

Contemporary artist, sound artist, and curator.

 

Jennifer Lynn Stoever

Associate Professor of English at Binghamton University and co-founder and editor of Sounding Out!.

 

Kornphanat Tungkeunkunt

Associate Professor of History, Thammasat University.

 

Neil Verma

Associate Professor and Director of the MA in Sound Arts and Industries, Northwestern University.

 

Jing WANG

Associate Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor, College of Media and International Culture, and founder of the Sound Lab, Zhejiang University.

 

Hei Ting Wong

Honorary Research Associate, Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 

Qiushi Xu

Assistant Professor, School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology; sound studies scholar and curator.

 

Yu ZHANG

Associate Professor, Department of Chinese History and Culture, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

 

Olga Zubova

Visiting Lecturer at the School of Art and Design and doctoral student at the Doctoral School of Art and Design, HSE University.