2015     Ph.D.     Sociology, Yale University

2008     M.A.      Sociology, Yale University

2006     B.A.       Sociology (with a minor in Music), University of California-San Diego

I am interested in the relationship of culture, technology, and social practices. This includes how knowledge is produced and represented in interactions, how expertise is organized across groups, and how aesthetic and ethical preferences are materialized in machines and objects. My dissertation research concerns the role of noise in the work of audio engineers and music teachers: these experts both define the categories of good and bad sound for greater audiences, and they make these definitions durable through the instruments that they build and disseminate. Questions I seek to answer include: What perspectives do experts bring to their evaluations of sound? How does the organization of collaborative work produce ideas of what is possible? And what aesthetic qualities are prioritized to highlight these cultural ideals? In addition to this work on sonic culture, I have researched the effect of science on perceptions of visual symbols, competing philosophies of education in America, and the role of culture in the technology industry.