Music is a universal language — one that will be shared on Saturday, May 2, at DePaul’s annual Pop Culture Conference in the College of Communication building at 14 E. Jackson Blvd.

The College of Communication has hosted the conference for over a decade, and chooses a different pop culture theme each year. They have covered a wide range of popular culture, from “Star Wars” to reality television. This year, the theme is “remixing pop music.”

“There is real value in bringing groups of people together who have similar interests,” said Paul Booth, a professor of media and pop culture at DePaul and an associate dean for student affairs and engagement in the College of Communication. “Whether they’re fans, academics or people who work in the industry, everyone that comes to the pop culture conference has an interest in pop music.”

Booth has run the conference for 13 years. He said the conference will cover topics such as “Identity, Gender, and the Self,” “Reading K-Pop” and “Music History and the Industry.”

Booth said the conference welcomes fans, academics, community members and professionals to come together for one day to discuss popular culture.

The event also will have several speakers, student vendors and live music, including musicians Whitney Thompson, Amber Marlowe and The Bullpups.

“Because every year is different and we cover different things, I am always trying to bring new things into the pop culture conference,” Booth said. “This year the new thing was bringing in musicians which we’ve never had before.”

There also will be two keynote speakers: Jim DeRogatis and Francesa Royster.

Royster is a DePaul professor of English and critical ethnic studies and the director of DePaul’s Center for Black Diaspora. She is also an author, publishing her latest book,  “Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions,” in 2022.

“Country music is often looked at as this genre to the side of popular music,” Royster said. At the conference, she will discuss artists, such as Beyoncé, who break down barriers within music genres.

“Ultimately, I’m trying to demonstrate that pop music can be a kind of interesting theoretical, historical conversation,” Royster added.

DeRogatis is a world-known music critic who hosts the nationally-syndicated public radio show “Sound Opinions.” DeRogatis is also known for an investigation he coreported for the Chicago Sun-Times and other outlets that uncovered musician R. Kelly’s sexual misconduct and helped lead to Kelly’s conviction.

During his keynote speech, DeRogatis will discuss the value of real criticism.

“In this era of opinion overload, everybody is telling us what they’re thinking online,” DeRogatis said. “Is there still a need for real criticism and what is that?”

“Beyond that, is there a need for thinking about this academically?”

DeRogatis believes music fans, professional critics and music scholars all have the same appreciation for music.

“I don’t really think there’s a distinction between fans and professional critics or, for that matter, people who study pop music or pop culture in the Academy,” DeRogatis said. “It all comes from a place of love of the art form.”

The DePaul Pop Culture Conference supports a different charity each year. This year the conference will support The Freedom of the Press Foundation. The sale to benefit this foundation will be held at the eighth-floor lobby. The sale will include  a silent auction, baked goods, and t-shirt sales.

Registration for the conference will open at 8:30 a.m. in the first floor lobby. The conference starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5:45 p.m.

“I’m excited to meet people in the community,” Booth said. “To share the experience of being together on a Saturday and to learn about something together.”

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