Research Interests: Science and Technology Studies, Feminist Theory, American Studies, Sound Studies, Music Studies

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards:

• Cultural Studies Summer Funding (2017)
• Mellon Research Initiative in Social Justice Summer Fellowship (2016)
• Feminist Research Institute Graduate Summer Research Fellowship (2016)
• UC Davis Humanities Arts and Cultural Studies Dean’s Fellowship (2016)
• American Philosophical Society Library Resident Research Fellowship (2016)
• Cultural Studies Dissertation Quarter Award (2016)
• Mellon Research Initiative in Social Justice Summer Fellowship (2014)
• Provost’s Fellowship in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (2012-2013)

Education:

• B.A. American Studies. College of William and Mary, 2005
• M.A. American Studies. The University of South Florida, 2011

Publications:

• "Mapping the Music Genome: Imaginative Geography in the Music Genome Project and the Genographic Project." Media Fields 10, November 2015. 
• Theisen, Cara, Amanda Modell, Yvonne Muñoz and Kem Saichaie. “Peer Teaching Consultants: Agents for Instructional Development and Institutional Change.” in New Directions for Teaching and Learning: Graduate Student Development and Preparation in the 21st Century. Edited by Cara Theisen and Kem Saichaie, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Forthcoming.  
• Review of Anderson, Tim J. Popular Music in a Digital Music Economy: Problems and Practices for an Emerging Service Industry, and Morris, Jeremy Wade. Selling Digital Music, Formatting Culture. In The Journal for the Society of American Music. vol. 12, no. 3, 2018, pp. 348–354.

Presentations:

• "Policing Pop Culture: Forensic Technologies and Music Recommendation Systems."  Cultural Studies Association Annual Conference.  Philadelphia, PA.  June 3, 2016.
• "Only God Can Make a Genome": Pandora Internet Radio, God Tricks and 'The Music Itself.'" Society for Ethnomusicology National Meeting.  Austin, TX.  December 8, 2015.  
• “’Selves Do Bad Things’: A Critique of the ‘Authentic Self’ Discourse in US Yoga.” Berkeley Center for Race and Gender Conference. Berkeley, CA, April 25, 2014.
• “Unsettling Performance Studies / Performing Critique.” National Association for Ethnic Studies National Conference. Oakland, CA, April 4, 2014.
• “’Freedom is the Ultimate Goal’: Talib Kweli and Nina Simone’s Fo(u)r Women.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference. San Antonio, TX, April 2011
• “Escaping Efficiency: Eugenic Music Studies and their Dissenters during the Interwar Period.” American Studies Association Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. Nov. 11, 2017.
• “Australian Musical Ecologies: Whale Dreaming Songs and the Fight for the Great Australian Bight.” Association for Cultural Studies. Sydney, Australia. December 16, 2016.
• “’I Realize this is Not Helpful at All’: Methodological and Ethical Challenges in an Ethnography of Pandora Internet Radio.” Society for Ethnomusicology, National Meeting. Washington, DC. November 7, 2016.