Paderborn University celebrates 20th anniversary of the study program "Popular Music and Media" and foundation of the research center "C:POP
About 350 guests came to Paderborn University on Friday evening, June 30, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the study program "Popular Music and Media" and the foundation of the new research center "C:POP". On this occasion, the campus in front of the G lecture hall was transformed into a very special venue: After greetings and a round of talks about pop, promotion, politics and education, current and former students performed as bands and DJs. A highlight was the PopBoard NRW with its OpenDeck bus, where DJs performed and advice on pop promotion was offered.
"Both the degree program 'Popular Music and Media' and the new center 'C:POP. Transdisciplinary Research Center for Popular Music Cultures and Creative Economies' at Paderborn University are unique in Germany. We are happy to celebrate the anniversary and the foundation together and to feel the energy and solidarity on site", emphasizes Prof. Dr. Beate Flath, managing director of "C:POP" and deputy speaker of the music department. Numerous representatives from the music and media industry, academia, cultural policy, as well as from the field of pop funding and other interested parties took the opportunity to exchange ideas and network.
Numerous congratulations
In a video message, the President of Paderborn University, Prof. Dr. Birgitt Riegraf, warmly congratulated on the anniversary and the opening. Prof. Dr. Volker Peckhaus, Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, joined in the congratulations and emphasized the special nature of the celebration, which stood out from other academic celebrations due to the musical performances.
Guests included Member of the German Bundestag Erhard Grundl, Head/Speaker of the Working Group on Culture and Media and member of the Committee on Cultural & Media Policy, who welcomed those present and offered warm congratulations from Minister of State Claudia Roth, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Video messages of congratulations were also delivered by Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy and Deputy Minister President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Ina Brandes, Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The event was moderated by Ina Heinrich, cultural manager of the city of Lippstadt, and Ulrich Lettermann from the Department of Music at Paderborn University.
New research center focuses on popular music cultures
The aim of the new research center "C:POP" at the Faculty of Cultural Studies is to further advance research in the field of popular music. Prof. Dr. Christoph Jacke, deputy managing director of "C:POP" and responsible for the study program "Popular Music and Media", explains: "With the research center 'C:POP' we were able to establish as an institution what was already there all along: hundreds of students, doctoral candidates, theses, research projects, but also performances, transfers in and out of the city find their place here."
In the center, researchers devote themselves to very different disciplines of pop music cultures, such as the connection between pop and populism, fake news and music journalism, or social inequalities on, in front of, and behind pop music cultural stages.
