What first inspired you to go into academia?  What inspires you still?

In retrospect, a few misunderstandings: of what it means to be an academic, of what life within the academy is like, of the state of the academic job market. Being able to work beyond the walls of academia was a big part of what pushed me to pursue a career change into a STEM field.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“The ways in which”! Every time.

What’s your guilty pleasure while you write/research/prepare material/go to conferences?

Taking a long lunch. I’ll often work late into the evening, and over the years I’ve found that having a mid-day reset works wonders.

Best conference of your career so far?

The New Materialist Approaches to Sound conference at Columbia University, where I was invited to give a talk in the fall of 2019. It was an incredibly special trip, and with the hindsight of the pandemic it feels even more special. I took the train down from Montreal, and my brother and my parents all flew in from across the continent to see me give my talk. It was the first time any of us had been to New York, and it was such a beautiful time of year, so the fact of our being there together felt completely magical. The conference itself, though, was also a real point of professional success, and one that took place during a broader period of time in my life that was rich with a sense of long-worked-for accomplishment. It did a lot for solidifying in me a sense of what might be possible if I chose to work for it.

What are you looking forward to most in the next twelve months?

The new and exciting ways in which my life will have shifted and stretched between now and then. (I’m in the midst of an international move that will take me some several thousand kilometres from home.)

Given the past few years, what makes you happiest, in or out of the classroom?

Small gestures of care, connection, dependability, and interest.

What’s the strangest question anyone has ever asked you in an academic context?

Historically — and without fail! — any question I’ve been asked after giving a talk at a conference.