- Steve Averill, Senior Art Director, AMP Visual
- Bill Carter, director of the documentary film Miss Sarajevo
- John Gorman, President of Gorman Media, veteran broadcaster for Cleveland’s FM WMMS
- Brian O’Neal, former Vice-President and Co-Founder of The Wasserman Group, former media promotions officer with Universal Music Group
- Jim Henke, Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, former music editor for Rolling Stone
- Screening of Meet Me In The Sound, exploring the U2 fan community, with director Natalie Baker in attendance
- Screening of U23D in the Rock Hall’s Foster Theater
- Screening of Unforgettable Fire: The Story of a U2 Tribute Band with director Michelle Regina Iacobelli and Unforgettable Fire in attendance
- Masterclass presentation from Unforgettable Fire, the longest running U2 tribute band in America, with a concert later at the Hard Rock Cafe Cleveland
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U2 CONFERENCES
The U2 Conference has welcoming and inclusive spaces for studying the music, work and influence of U2 and U2 fandom. Fans, students, scholars, critics, and artists bring their curiosity, critical thinking, and passion for developing their appreciation and understanding of U2–and all things connected to U2.
We share stories, research, and conversation, and make personal and professional connections. We gather in virtual spaces and physical spaces.
Our first meeting was in 2009 in Durham, NC, on the weekend of U2’s 360° tour stop in Raleigh. Bono greeted our “confab” from the stage.
Check out the feedback from attendees and see here for information about previous conferences.
Keep the U2 Conference going if you’re able. Thank you and see you soon.
U2 Conferences started in 2009. Please see below for more information about each previous conference, and check out the feedback we’ve received from previous attendees.
The 2009 U2 Conference was at North Carolina Central University, Durham, North Carolina, on October 2-4, 2009.
The 2009 conference program is here as a PDF.
A Flickr gallery of photos from 2009 is here.
In addition to paper and panel presentations, the Keynote Speakers, Special Presenters, and Special Events included:
- Anthony DeCurtis, Contributing Editor at Rolling Stone
- Neil McCormick, Chief Music Critic for The Daily Telegraph, U2’s biographer
- Anges Nyamarawo, Ugandan nurse and AIDS activist, founder and member of the Mulago Positive Women’s Network (MPWN), member of The AIDS Support Organization (TASO)
- Jim Henke, Vice President of Exhibitions and Curatorial Affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, former music editor for Rolling Stone
- Matt McGee, creator of @U2.
- Screening of The Heart of America Tour with director Dominic DeJoseph and Agnes Nyamarawo in attendance, at the Carolina Theater
- Screening of It Might Get Loud at the Carolina Theater
- Screening of U23D in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh
The 2013 U2 Conference was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland, Ohio, on April 26-27, 2013.
The 2013 conference program is here as a PDF.
A Flickr gallery of photos from 2013 is here.
In addition to paper and panel presentations, the Keynote Speakers, Special Presenters, and Special Events included:
The 2018 U2 Conference was at Queen’s University with The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, at Fitzroy Presbyterian Church, and at the Ulster National Museum, Belfast, UK, on June 13-15, 2018.
The U2 Conference 2018 program is here as a PDF.
A Flickr gallery of photos from 2018 is here.
In addition to paper and panel presentations, the Keynote Speakers, Special Presenters, and Special Events included:
- Catherine Owens, Visual Artist, Creative Director of screen imagery for animation, film and video, for U2 tours from 1992 – 2010, director U23D
- Stuart Bailie, music writer and broadcaster for NME, Mojo, Uncut, Q, The Times, The Irish Times, The Irish Independent, Classic Rock, Music Week, Belfast Telegraph and Hot Press
- Shaughn McGrath, Design Artist, AMP Visual
- Steve Averill, Design Artist, AMP Visual
- Andy Rowen, a childhood friend of Bono’s who inspired U2’s songs “Bad” and “Raised By Wolves. with Steve Stockman, minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast and author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
- John Brewer, Professor of Post Conflict Studies in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast
- Beth Nabi, Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Digital Media at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla., creator and curator of the U2 Tattoo Project
- Fiona Magowan, Professor of Anthropology and a Fellow of the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University, Belfast
- December, in concert at The John Hewitt
The 2019 U2 Conference was in Sydney, Australia, in partnership with the Australia National University School of Music and Studios 301.
The 2019 conference program is here as a PDF.
A Flickr gallery of photos from 2019 is here.
In addition to paper and panel presentations, the Keynote Speakers, Special Presenters, and Special Events included:
- Dallas Schoo, Guitar Technician for The Edge
- Samantha Bennett, Associate Professor in Music at the Australian National University
- André Brett, Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow in History at the University of Wollongong
- Richard Lowenstein, Director, Editor, Producer: U2: LoveTown, 1989; U2 music videos “Angel Of Harlem” and “Desire,“ 1988; Writer and Director: Mystify: Michael Hutchence, 2019. Screening of U2: LoveTown and Mystify: Michael Hutchence
The 2020 U2 Conference was on the Whova platform for virtual conferences.
The 2020 conference program is here as a PDF.
In addition to paper and panel presentations, the Keynote Speakers, Special Presenters, and Special Events included:
- Edel Rodriguez, Artist & Activist
- Bill Flanagan (writer), Mary Wharton (director), Chris Farrell (producer), in conversation with Kristi York Wooten about the film Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President
- Kimberly Mack, Assistant Professor of African American Literature and Culture, The University of Toledo, Ohio
- David Dark, Associate Professor of Religion and the Arts, Belmont University, Nashville
- Timothy D. Neufeld, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, Adjunct Professor, Fresno Pacific University
- Chad Seales, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Texas at Austin
- Cathleen Falsani, Author and Journalist
Light My Way: Achtung Baby! 30 Years Later
A Virtual Exploration of U2 Dreaming It All Up Again
November 18-20, 2021
Review The U2 Conference 2021 here.
- Paul Muldoon, poet, professor of poetry, editor, critic, playwright, lyricist and translator
- Elysa Gardner, previously USA Today‘s music and theater critic, currently covers cabaret for The New York Times and writes about the arts for various publications, including Town & Country, Time Out New York, and Broadway Direct, where she has hosted the podcast “Stage Door Sessions.”
- Stuart Bailie, writer, critic, broadcaster, author of Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland (2018) and 75 Van Songs: Into the Van Morrison Songbook (2020), and editor of the quarterly cultural magazine, Dig With It
- Matt Nathanson, songwriter, musician, recording artist