UW–Madison graduate student Anne E. Stoner’s research article, “Drowning Out the Noise: Private Listening, Public Spatialities, Queer Wellbeing,” was recently published in Resonance: The Journal of Sound and Culture, an international peer-reviewed journal exploring sound studies across cultural and artistic fields.
Stoner, an MFA candidate in the School of Education’s Art Department, is an interdisciplinary artist and social ethnographer focusing on sonic practice. Her research presents an innovative study in queer sonic ethnography, investigating how private music listening through headphones operates as an extension of queer identity in public spaces.
Stoner’s article poses questions about how this form of listening may support, exhibit, or conceal expressions of gender and sexuality within heteronormative environments. She frames her study within Erving Goffman’s concept of “Territories of the Self,” examining how personal soundscapes influence queer individuals’ public presence and everyday interactions.
Awarded the Frederick Niecks Essay Prize in 2022 and showcased at Northwestern University in 2023, Stoner’s work aims to shed light on the nuanced experiences of queer individuals navigating public spaces through the lens of sound. Her approach combines queer anthropology, human geography, and sonic practice to challenge conventional representations within art.
To learn more about this research, read Stoner’s full article in Resonance.