Accessibility & Accommodation Programs
Support for Caregivers
AMS Family Care Grants
AMS offers family care reimbursements to AMS members whose attendance at the Annual Meeting incurs extra family care expenses. AMS family care reimbursements will cover 50% of expenses, up to a reimbursement total of $200.
SMT Family Care Travel Grants
SMT offers a limited number of grants of up to $400 each to help defray family care costs for those whose attendance at the Annual Meeting incurs extra family care expenses. Receipts required.
Quiet room, Nursing Parents Room
Special facilities are provided at the Annual Meeting to support the needs of nursing parents or those who need quiet space to work or recover. These facilities reduce barriers to access for parents, those with sensory disabilities, and others who simply need quiet or a reduction of visual and auditory stimulus. These facilities also often save money for those who would otherwise have to travel away from the conference hotel to meet these needs.
Support for Persons with Disabilities
Accessible hotels
In compliance with current AMS Guidelines on Accessibility, the AMS will only hold its Annual Meetings in venues that are fully accessible and fully in compliance with all ADA-related requirements.
Audio amplification
Microphones and other forms of audio amplification improve the physical accessibility of in-person events both for those with disabilities and those without them who may struggle to hear because of ambient noise or other environmental interference.
Accessibility Guidelines
Guidance on supporting accessible session is provided to all chairs and presenters by both AMS and SMT, and are available before and during the meeting to all participants.
Accessibility accommodation requests
The AMS and SMT solicit and support a range of accessibility accommodations as capacity and resources allow. Accessibility accommodations include subsidies for ASL/CART and, when possible, remote/proxy participation and attendance. Requests for accessibility support should be sent to events@amsmusicology.org. They will be handled quickly and confidentially.
AMS Remote Presentation Track
This proposal track, which we are piloting in 2023, accepts paper proposals from individuals who are unable to travel to attend the Annual Meeting in person, but would like to present their work remotely.
AMS Online Annual Meeting
The AMS hold its annual meeting online once every three years to reduce climate impacts and facilitate the participation of those who are not able to travel to attend the annual meeting in person. The cycle of meetings was disrupted by COVID, but the Society is re-establishing the cycle. The next AMS online annual meeting will be held in 2026.
SMT Accessibility Travel Grants
SMT offers accessibility travel grants of up to $400 each to help defray costs for those whose participation in the Annual Meeting incurs extra disability-related expenses. Receipts required.
Financial and Diversity Support
AMS Eileen Southern Travel Fund
The Eileen Southern Travel Fund (ESTF) grant program provides travel grants to the AMS Annual Meeting for minority undergraduates and terminal master’s degree candidates interested in exploring careers in musicology. ESTF grant recipients receive travel, lodging, complimentary registration and a one-year complimentary membership in the AMS. ESTF grant recipients participate in cohort and mentorship activities, including introductions to representatives of graduate programs in musicology from across the country, future colleagues and mentors, exposure to the Society’s many interest groups, and opportunities to attend various annual meeting sessions and programs.
AMS Janet Levy Fund
The Janet Levy Fund supports professional travel and research expenses for AMS members who do not have access to employer-based research funding, including conference travel. Award amounts range between $500 and $2,000.
AMS Annual Meeting Travel Grants
The AMS offers Annual Meeting Travel Grants to AMS members who have little or no financial support to participate in the Annual Meeting of the Society. Grants of up to $500 (applicants outside North America) and $350 (applicants in North America) (subject to funding availability) are available to those who are presenting papers or performances, chairing sessions, or serving on an AMS Committee.
Progressive registration fee structure
Both AMS and SMT have implemented a progressive fee structure for registration at the annual meeting fee. This structure is designed to lessen financial barriers to attendance and to redistribute the cost of holding the meeting to those most able to pay. This policy improves attendance by students, retired and low-income participants.
SMT Subventions for Annual Meeting Events
Each year the SMT Annual Meeting Grants Subcommittee considers special funding requests from standing committees, interest groups, and individual SMT members for activities held at the SMT Annual Meeting.
SMT Travel Grants
- International – up to $650 each plus complimentary registration; membership requirement waived. Available to non-US and non-Canadian citizens who reside outside of the United States and Canada. Receipts required.
- Minority – up to $400 each plus complimentary registration; membership requirement waived. Available to individuals belonging to an underrepresented ethnic minority group and who are citizens of, or currently residing in, the US or Canada. Receipts required.
- Independent/Undersupported/Unsupported – up to $400 each. This award is intended to help those for whom conference attendance would pose financial difficulties and who have no access to other funding, to help defray the costs associated with attending the SMT Annual Meeting. Receipts required.
Gender & Sexuality
Gender-neutral Restroom
The AMS and SMT endeavor to provide gender-neutral bathrooms at all their annual meeting locations. These facilities improve the comfort of trans or gender-nonconforming attendees and can often provide a more suitable space for parents to attend to the needs of their children. These facilities also often save money for those who would otherwise have to travel away from the conference hotel to meet these needs.
Networks & Groups
AMS Guest Speaker Fund
The Guest Speaker Fund provides financial support to AMS committees and study groups that invite speakers from outside music studies to participate in the AMS Annual Meeting.
AMS Suzanne G. Cusick Professional Development Fund
The American Musicological Society’s Suzanne G. Cusick Professional Development Fund provides $500 professional development and career support grants for scholars of music, sound studies, and musical performance. These grants are intended to support low-income independent scholars, contingent faculty, and individuals whose paid work outside the academy does not offer them access to funds for professional development.
SMT Disability & Accessibility Standing Committee
The SMT Disability & Accessibility Standing Committee provides the following: