North Carolina Central University will host academics, journalists, musicians, clergy and fans who have studied the impact on society of Irish rock band, U2. The academic portion of the conference will be held on NCCU’s campus during the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2009. All seminars will take place at the H.M. Michaux, Jr. School of Education on Cecil Street in Durham. The workshops will cover a wide range of topics from artistic analysis to the influence of U2 in antiretroviral drug funding in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Guest panelists at the U2 Hype and the Feedback conference, include the following.

Neil McCormick is most noted as a music critic for the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph.  He has appeared on TV and radio in Britain, Scotland and Wales. McCormick was raised in Scotland and Ireland where he befriended the band members and later wrote a book titled I Was Bono’s Doppelganger.

Anthony DeCurtis is contributing editor, Rolling Stone, author and journalist, and will front the seminar, U2: Contents and Discontents.  He is a Grammy award winner for the “Best Album Notes,” which accompanied Eric Clapton’s CD box set, Crossroads. DeCurtis holds a Ph.D. in American literature from Indiana University. He teaches writing at two colleges, the University of Pennsylvania and CUNY (City University of New York).

Agnes Nyamayarwo is described by U2 conference coordinators as “a Ugandan nurse and activist whose fight against AIDS has led her from personal and family tragedy to touring the U.S. with Bono. She is the founding member of the Mulago Positive Women’s Network and a leader with The AIDS Support Organization in the fight against AIDS in Africa."

Matt McGee is the founder and editor of @U2, which McGee says is a site “produced by U2 fans for U2 fans.” McGee is the author of a new book U2–A Diary that is a timeline of U2’s history.
 
Scott Calhoun, a professor of English at Cedarville University (Ohio) and U2 academic tour coordinator says, “Durham has been well-served for a long time by NCCU’s efforts to educate students and the community through the arts and music…the institution closely parallels U2’s history which has been to create music that inspires everyone and honors the overlooked, the oppressed and the champions of freedom for all peoples….”

The U2 conference coincides with the band’s concert in Raleigh, October 3.

At NCCU, conference registration will be open each day, October 3 and 4, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lobby at the H.M. Michaux Jr. School of Education. Vendor, exhibitor and book tables will remain open all day as well.

A pre-conference reception will be held Friday, October 2, at Bull McCabes, 427 W. Main St., Durham, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and then, participants will move to the Carolina Theater, 309 West Morgan Street, Durham, for the screening of the films The Heart of America Tour and It Might Get Loud beginning at 9 p.m.  Filmmaker Dominic J. DeJoseph, along with Agnes Nyamayarwo will take questions after the film. Tickets for Friday’s events are available to the public for $25.  Registration and all ticket options for the entire weekend of events may be found at <www.u2conference.com>.