USC.edu

Karen Tongson

Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, English and American Studies and Ethnicity
Karen Tongson
Pronouns She / Her / Hers Email tongson@usc.edu Office THH 416 Office Phone (213) 740-2808

Research & Practice Areas

Queer & Gender Studies; Minority Discourse; Popular Culture (Pop Music, TV, Entertainment & Media Cultures); Suburban Studies; Performance; Los Angeles & the Southern California Region; Food & Taste Cultures; Contemporary Literature; 19th-Century British Literature; Theory; Aesthetics

Biography

Karen Tongson is Professor of gender & sexuality studies, English and American studies & ethnicity, and chair of the Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies. She is the 2019 recipient of the Lambda Literary Jeanne Córdova Award for Lesbian/Queer Nonfiction, and the author of  Normporn: Queer Viewers and the TV that Soothes Us (2023), Why Karen Carpenter Matters (2019; Lambda Literary Award nominee in LGBTQ Nonfiction; Pitchfork’s Best Music Books of 2019, The Believer Book Award, longlist, 2020), Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries (2011). For ten years, she co-edited the award-winning...

Education

  • Ph.D. English, University of California, Berkeley, 2003
  • B.A. English, University of California, Los Angeles, 1995
    • Postdoctoral Fellow, Queer Locations Working Group, University of California Humanities Research Institute (UC Irvine), 01/01/2004 – 07/01/2004
    • President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Literature (UCSD), University of California , 06/01/2003 – 05/30/2005

  • Visiting and Temporary Appointments

    • International Visiting Professor of Queer Studies, Linguistik und Litteraturwissenschaft, Universität Bielefeld, 07/01/2014 – 08/01/2014
    • Visting Professor of Performance Studies, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Spring 2010

  • Research Specialties

    Queer & Gender Studies; Minority Discourse; Popular Culture (Pop Music, TV, Entertainment & Media Cultures); Suburban Studies; Performance; Los Angeles & the Southern California Region; Food & Taste Cultures; Contemporary Literature; 19th-Century British Literature; Theory; Aesthetics

  • Book

    • Tongson, K. (2019). Why Karen Carpenter Matters. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
    • Tongson, K., See, S. E., Gonzalves, T., Linmark, R. Z. (2013). Migrant Musicians: Filipino Entertainers and the Work of Music Making (limited edition). Durham, NC: Horse and Buggy Press.
    • Tongson, K. (2011). Relocations: Queer Suburban Imaginaries. New York, NY: New York University Press.

  • Media, Alumni, and Community Relations

    • Board of Directors, Project Q (a non-profit organization that provides safe space for LGBTQIA+ youth), 01/15/2021 –

  • Conferences Organized

    • Co-Chair, ASAP/13 – Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present Conference, Los Angeles, CA, Fall 2022
    • Chair/Organizer, PopCon at the Museum of Popular Culture, Seattle, WA, 2019-2020
    • Site Resources (Host) Committee , ASA: American Studies Association, Los Angeles, CA, Fall 2014
    • Co-Chair, Planning Committee, EMPL.A.: Popular Music Conference, Los Angeles, CA, 2012-2013
    • Co-Organizer (with Daphne Carr, Sarah Dougher and Ann Powers), Work It!: A Conference on Gender, Race and Sexuality in Pop Music Professions, University of Southern California, Spring 2011
    • Organizer, A Freestyle Symposium, University of Southern California, Fall 2006

    Editorships and Editorial Boards

    • Advisory Board, PLL: Papers on Language and Literature, 2015 –
    • Editorial Board, The Journal of Asia-Pacific Popular Culture, 2015 –
    • Advisory Board, Sounding Out!: The Sound Studies Blog, 10/01/2013 –
    • Book Series Editor, Postmillennial Pop, NYU Press, 09/01/2010 –
    • Associate Editor, Journal of Popular Music Studies, 2013 – 2019
    • Events Editor, American Quarterly, 09/01/2010 – 05/01/2014
    • Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Popular Music Studies (JPMS), 07/01/2010 – 07/01/2013

    Professional Offices

    • President, Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP), 2021-2022
    • Vice-President, Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP), 2020-2021
    • Delegate, Gays and Lesbians in the Profession, Modern Language Association (Delegate Assembly), 01/01/2010 – 01/06/2013
    • Co-Chair, APAC (Asian Pacific American Caucus), Society for Cinema and Media Studies, 07/01/2009 – 07/01/2011
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