Steph Ceraso

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Personal information

First name

Steph

Last name

Ceraso

Institution

University of Pittsburgh

Brief Bio

I’m a 4th year Ph.D. student in English (Cultural/Critical Studies) at the University of Pittsburgh specializing in rhetoric and composition. My primary research areas include sound and listening, digital media, and affect.

Full Bio

I am currently working on an interdisciplinary dissertation that examines bodily listening practices and multimodality. I’m especially interested in questions about listening and composing practices, mind/body dualisms and mind-body complexes, and affect: What exactly happens in/to our bodies when we listen? How do biological, affective, and cognitive processes interact or collaborate during a listening event? How have technological developments shaped human listening? How might we understand sound and listening differently when heard through theories of affect, sensation, and systems? How has remix culture transformed the act of listening and what legal constraints prevent sharing certain acts of listening? What does all of this have to do with multimodality?

My fascination with listening saturates my life in and outside of academia. I’ve designed and taught several college-level composition courses that have focused on music and sound: “The Album as Literature,” “Jazz, Identity, and the Cultural Imagination,” and "Seminar in Composition: Music, Voice, and Sound." I’m also a huge music nerd. I collect vinyl—mostly indie rock, Motown, and jazz (though I appreciate almost any sound)—and am lucky enough to live near Jerry’s Records: http://www.jerrysrecords.com. I construct MP3 playlists for every situation imaginable, I devour music blogs, zines, and music memoirs (Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mix Tape http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/mixtape/ is an all-time fav) and I’m a live music junkie (my brother Matt is in a Pittsburgh indie rock band, mariage blanc: http://www.myspace.com/mariageblanc).

You can find me on twitter (@stephceraso), or contact me via email: (slc94@pitt.edu, stephceraso@gmail.com).