I wouldn't think one need be a "benighted academic" to attend the program. There are some excellent musicians who have decided to take part in this event - Solas, Green Fields of America, Cherish the Ladies, John Campbell, Len Graham, Padraigin Ni Uallachain, Tommy Sands, Mick Maloney and Andy Irvine, for example. These individuals are far from intellectual snobs and boors - they are some of the finest exponents of traditional Irish music in the world. It is to the program's credit that they have chosen to present such luminaries as John Campbell, Len Graham, Padraigin Ni Uallachain et al - these singers in particular have remained entirely faithful to tradition and have NEVER gone commercial - indeed they are not very well known outside their native Ulster except by serious devotees of traditional Irish music. There are dance, theater and cinematic presentations as well. This program WOULD certainly be of interest to musicians, and it doesn't appear to be at all "sectarian" in its outlook, nor snobbish. It isn't even as if they left out the Ulster Scots - there is quite a bit devoted to them. Whether or not their involvement in the slave trade will be brought up is not mentioned, but I can assure you that the majority of Ulster Scots who settled in Virginia were not slave traders but small farmers and tradesmen. I don't want to get into a big argument with anybody but I just can't understand what it is about this conference that caused such a backlash. Seriously, can't we cultivate a more positive attitude on Mudcat?