Jennifer C. Hsieh

My work is situated between anthropology of the state, sensory studies, and science and technology studies. I examine the standardization of sensory perception by way of institutional practices and technological devices. My current book project analyzes the sociality of hearing and the production of noise as a material and discursive object in Taiwan’s environmental noise control system. Tentatively titled, From Festival to Decibel: Making Noise in Urban Taiwan, the book analyzes the way residents, policy makers, and environmental inspectors transform the fleeting qualities of sound into the regulatory object of noise. It further explores how the practices of noise inspections, decibel measurements, and government petitioning tie together personal acts of hearing and listening with geopolitical concerns of citizenship and belonging. My research and thinking are informed by my background as a classically-trained pianist and former audio engineer. Since receiving my Ph.D. in Anthropology at Stanford in 2017, I have held research fellowships at the Vossius Center at the University of Amsterdam, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, and the Fairbank Center at Harvard. Starting Fall 2021, I will be Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Michigan. 

Originally from Texas, I have worked in a number of capacities to facilitate equity and inclusion for students. This includes tutoring bilingual youth from immigrant households, developing leadership skills among underrepresented students, and mentoring international students. In my teaching, I work towards providing an inclusive learning environment for students by attending to different learning styles, linguistic practices, and knowledge structures.