By Oliver Taylor
The Punk Scholars Network’s yearly research conference has taken place at De Montfort University over the past two days.
The Punk Scholars Network Annual Conference & Postgraduate Symposium alternates venues every year. This year’s event is the fifth edition.
Past locations have included Birmingham, Northampton and Bolton.
The location for next year’s event is yet to be determined, but could possibly be in Manchester.
The conference’s programme and abstracts can be found at the concessions standPunk Scholars Network co-founders Dr Alastair Gordon, senior lecturer in Media and Communication at DMU, and Dr Pete Dale, senior lecturer in popular music at Manchester Metropolitan University, spoke extensively about the event’s vision.
Dr Gordon said: “Punk generally can be viewed with a lot of scorn. Our goal, really, is to help establish the credibility of studying punk.”
Dr Gordon and Dr Dale explained that the event is intended to push forward the research of punk.
The study of punk involves elements of drama, music, fashion, sociology and many more.
Professor Roger Sabin, who teaches at the University of Arts London, was a special guest at the event and held a talk on the crossover of punk and metal in the late 1970s.
Contrary to the popular belief that punk was only relevant in the 70s, different genres of punk are alive and growing in all corners of the globe. In fact, Dr Gordon believes that the largest current punk scene is in Indonesia.
All genres of punk can be seen thriving on all corners of the global. Raw punk is immensely popular in countries such as Finland and Brazil. Burning Spirits, a genre of punk born in Japan in 1988, is still relevant today.
Mr Sabin spoke glowingly of his experience at this year’s conference, describing that “people are coming from different backgrounds, but they’re united here to learn. It’s a really, really nice experience.”
The conference can be located in Mill Studios, room 0.21 on the DMU campus.
