Our goal in creating Art of Interference is to enable inspiring conversations between artists and scientists, academics and the larger public about the most pressing issue of our time: climate change. In working on this project, we–The AoI Collaboratory–seek to establish a collaborative climate in which moments of mutual interference drive our thinking forward and generate unexpected insights. Here’s the team behind Art of Interference:
Jennifer Gutman (she/her) is Assistant Director of the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center at Vanderbilt University, where she received her joint-Ph.D. in English and Comparative Media Analysis & Practice. Her research and teaching interests include contemporary literature, environmental humanities, and novel theory. Her work has been published in Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction, and SubStance.
Tori Hoover is a fifth-year, joint-Ph.D candidate in English and Comparative Media Analysis and Practice (CMAP) at Vanderbilt University. Her work explores how racialized and gendered histories of sonic media surface in today’s podcasting landscape. Tori is also an intern at Nashville Public Radio, where she produces for the station’s daily show, “This is Nashville.”
Maren Loveland received a joint-PhD student in English and Comparative Media Analysis and Practice (CMAP) from Vanderbilt University in May 2025. Her research focuses on the relationship between media, infrastructure, and the environment. She specializes in twentieth-century literature and film studies, documentary studies, energy humanities, and critical race theory. She has both creative and academic works published or forthcoming in American Literature and Resillience, Dialogue, The Maine Review, and elsewhere.
Emma Vendetta received a joint-Ph.D. in Learning & Design and Comparative Media Analysis & Practice (CMAP) from Vanderbilt University in May 2023. Her central work investigates the social construction of listening through design studies using community discussions around popular music. Her research and teaching focus on feminist and critical race studies related to sound, human-centered design thinking, and creating digital narratives in the context of public space.
Lutz Koepnick is the Max Kade Foundation Professor of German Studies and a Professor of Cinema and Media Arts at Vanderbilt University. His primary research is on contemporary art, film, and sound culture.
We are grateful for the financial support of Vanderbilt University and the College of Arts & Science making this show possible.