THOMAS CONNER is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication & Science Studies at the Univ. of California-San Diego, as well as a seasoned writer and experienced features journalist. His research is rooted in media studies, visual communication, and pop cultural histories, and his body of criticism and journalism covers the breadth of popular music and social issues.
His dissertation is a media-archaeological inquiry into emergences of holograms (broadly defined) in order to demonstrate how encounters with this kind of spectral imagery extends already haunted aspects of modern media. A study of numerous historical cases — from actual optical holography to the fantasies of science fiction, and from the Pepper's Ghost stage illusion in the 19th century to its dramatic digital revivals in the 21st (e.g., the Tupac "hologram," Japanese Vocaloid idols) — this research follows emergences of a decentered, mobile, media-savvy viewing subject that not only views a spectral image but participates in a more direct experience of spectrality. Cavorting with holograms, in other words, teaches us about the ghostliness of everyday modern experience.
His academic publications include book chapters, journal articles, and book reviews, and he's presented research on Vocaloid pop stars, virtual performance, AR design, and socially conscious music at numerous conferences.
Thomas also is an experienced teacher, having amended his professional career as an adjunct instructor (in English, literature, journalism, and communication) for 12 years before serving as an associate instructor and teaching assistant during his Ph.D. study. He most recently designed and led junior seminars for the UCSD Communication department exploring the roots and effects of American protest music and the evolution of pop-culture criticism in America.
For 20 years prior to graduate study, Thomas was a professional music and features journalist. An award-winning columnist and editor, Thomas was the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he covered the breadth of popular music — from folk music to death metal, live concerts to album reviews, thoughtful features to breaking news — as well as an editor of both print and online departments at the Sun-Times and the Tulsa World. His writing about music and culture has appeared additionally in The Washington Post, DownBeat magazine, This Land Press, and more.
A native Okie, Thomas was a news reporter and copy editor throughout central Oklahoma in the early ’90s before writing about music in Tulsa for a decade — chronicling the rise of Hanson and the legacy of Leon Russell. In 2000-2001, Thomas served a fellowship with the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University in New York, during which he conducted research at the Woody Guthrie Archives. That work produced documents that remain part of the archives, as well as a foundation for much future journalism and the co-authoring a play with colleague John Wooley, “Time Changes Everything,” a two-act fantasy about two conversations between Guthrie and country bandleader Bob Wills. Thomas served on the board of the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for many years and continues as a member of its advisory board; he has been a featured presenter twice at the Woody Guthrie Symposium and was the keynote speaker for the Woody Guthrie Center's inaugural Changing World Prize.
In 1999, Thomas created, launched and produced the Spot Music Awards, an annual ceremony honoring local musicians and voted by readers of the Tulsa World. Once upon a time, he recorded some music himself.
Thomas writes about music and technology on his blog here, as well as a dormant blog about a personal passion: tea. He lives in San Diego with his husband of 27 years and two little monsters.
His dissertation is a media-archaeological inquiry into emergences of holograms (broadly defined) in order to demonstrate how encounters with this kind of spectral imagery extends already haunted aspects of modern media. A study of numerous historical cases — from actual optical holography to the fantasies of science fiction, and from the Pepper's Ghost stage illusion in the 19th century to its dramatic digital revivals in the 21st (e.g., the Tupac "hologram," Japanese Vocaloid idols) — this research follows emergences of a decentered, mobile, media-savvy viewing subject that not only views a spectral image but participates in a more direct experience of spectrality. Cavorting with holograms, in other words, teaches us about the ghostliness of everyday modern experience.
His academic publications include book chapters, journal articles, and book reviews, and he's presented research on Vocaloid pop stars, virtual performance, AR design, and socially conscious music at numerous conferences.
Thomas also is an experienced teacher, having amended his professional career as an adjunct instructor (in English, literature, journalism, and communication) for 12 years before serving as an associate instructor and teaching assistant during his Ph.D. study. He most recently designed and led junior seminars for the UCSD Communication department exploring the roots and effects of American protest music and the evolution of pop-culture criticism in America.
For 20 years prior to graduate study, Thomas was a professional music and features journalist. An award-winning columnist and editor, Thomas was the pop music critic at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he covered the breadth of popular music — from folk music to death metal, live concerts to album reviews, thoughtful features to breaking news — as well as an editor of both print and online departments at the Sun-Times and the Tulsa World. His writing about music and culture has appeared additionally in The Washington Post, DownBeat magazine, This Land Press, and more.
A native Okie, Thomas was a news reporter and copy editor throughout central Oklahoma in the early ’90s before writing about music in Tulsa for a decade — chronicling the rise of Hanson and the legacy of Leon Russell. In 2000-2001, Thomas served a fellowship with the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University in New York, during which he conducted research at the Woody Guthrie Archives. That work produced documents that remain part of the archives, as well as a foundation for much future journalism and the co-authoring a play with colleague John Wooley, “Time Changes Everything,” a two-act fantasy about two conversations between Guthrie and country bandleader Bob Wills. Thomas served on the board of the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival for many years and continues as a member of its advisory board; he has been a featured presenter twice at the Woody Guthrie Symposium and was the keynote speaker for the Woody Guthrie Center's inaugural Changing World Prize.
In 1999, Thomas created, launched and produced the Spot Music Awards, an annual ceremony honoring local musicians and voted by readers of the Tulsa World. Once upon a time, he recorded some music himself.
Thomas writes about music and technology on his blog here, as well as a dormant blog about a personal passion: tea. He lives in San Diego with his husband of 27 years and two little monsters.
(Photo above by Nalini Asha Biggs)