There’s a whole conference devoted to the study and discussion of U2? Yes. Yes, there is.

It’s called The U2 Conference: POPVision, a three-day conference at Queen’s University in Belfast and is devoted entirely to all things U2–or, as their mission statement says, “Exploring the music, work and influence of U2.”

I quote from the conference organizers:

Sessions are designed to appeal to academic and general audiences on the theme U2: POPVision. We will discuss U2’s Pop era as well as the larger topic of popular music’s power to cast visions that shape, construct and complicate broader cultural conversations, in which U2’s visions have long been engaged.

Here’s a sample of the kinds of presentations that are planned.

1. A Table in the Presence of My Enemies: Pop as “Songs of Descent”
Dr. Richard S. Briggs
Lecturer in Old Testament and Director of Biblical Studies
Cranmer Hall, St. John’s College
Durham University, England

2. From “Discothèque” to Drop the Debt: How Pop and PopMart Set the Stage for Bono’s Embrace of Global Political Activism and Advocacy at the Turn of the 21^st Century
Dr. Thierry Côté
Adjunct Professor
York University, Toronto, Canada

3. U2 in Sarajevo: Then and Now
Ana Djordjevic
Ph.D. Candidate and Independent Scholar
University College, Cork, Ireland

4. Pop and the Prequels: A Case for the Necessity of These Pariahs
Dr. Christopher Endrinal
Assistant Professor of Music
Bower School of Music and the Arts, Florida Gulf Coast University
Fort Myers, Florida, USA

5. Psalms of Experience: U2’s Pop and the Practice of Lament
Micheal Felker
Lead Pastor
Lakeside Church of Christ
Mansfield, Texas, USA

And there’s much, much more. The program can be found here and the list of confirmed speakers can be found here.

If you’re interested in attending, you can register here.

(Thanks to Larry for the link.)