AURAL DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

University of Salford and online – 5 September 2025

Call for Papers

The aural diversity movement springs from the observation that the many differences in hearing/listening might be better represented by a concept of a diverse range of hearing types instead of a binary normal/impaired model.

Aural diversity has made significant progress since the term was first published in 2017. Following the first conference and concerts in 2019, the aural diversity network has held a series of workshops and meetings, Arup have published their aural diversity toolkit and the Welsh Government has included a section on aural diversity in its noise and soundscape plan. Aurally diverse thinking has started to influence the disciplines, with acousticians, musicians, psychologists and others questioning the default assumption of normal hearing and altering their practice accordingly.

LAURA (the Leverhulme Aural Diversity Doctoral Research Hub) is nearly one year old. The first cohort of LAURA researchers are ready to share their initial findings. Many other researchers and practitioners working on aural diversity topics would benefit from a meeting to discuss and disseminate their ideas.

This aural diversity conference is intended to be a friendly, single-track conference for people working in aural diversity from any disciplinary background. We seek contributions from areas including acoustics, architecture, art, audiology, design, education, hearing science, music, psychology, sociology, soundscape, and more. We are especially keen to welcome research students giving their first paper, and lone researchers seeking a community. (Of course, profs and PIs are welcome too!)

There will no fee to participate or attend. Lunch and refreshments will be provided for those coming in person. Register for the event here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/universityofsalford1/1778102

Submissions may consist of proposals for: Spoken papers, posters, demonstrations, or brief updates.

The event will be hybrid. Spoken papers and brief updates can be delivered in person or online. Demonstrations will typically be in person but might be possible online (talk to us about what you’d like to do). Posters will only be accepted if presented in person.

Live captioning will be available throughout. A text-only version of all presentations must be submitted in advance – this is needed for some of our anticipated audience to access your talk. We don’t plan to publish written papers or slides – just the set of abstracts.

Important dates:

23 June 2025 Registration opens

25 July 2025 Deadline for abstract submissions

1 August 2025 Review outcomes

8 August 2025 Preliminary event programme

29 August 2025 Final event programme

5 September 2025 Conference (at Salford University and online)

Submission guidelines for single paper, poster or demonstration:

Structured abstract of max 300 words

Empirical studies: Background, Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusion and Implications

Non-empirical studies: Background, Aims, Main Contribution, Conclusion and Implications

Demonstrations: Background, Aims, Main Contribution & Practical requirements.

Submission guidelines for brief contribution:

One or two sentences on your topic

Your proposal must further include:

The title

The authors’ names

Type of proposal (presentation, poster, demonstration, brief contribution)

Whether you want to present in person or online

Your institutional affiliation(s)

The email address of the lead author

Where you are based nationally/internationally

What time zone you are in (-5 UTC Americas, +1UTC West-Europe, +4 UTC East etc.)

How to submit: Please submit your proposal via email to: see-laura@salford.ac.uk