Emily Thompson

Emily Thompson is Professor of History at Princeton University, transitioning to retirement. A historian of technology, she researches sound, listening practices, and media in early 20th-century America.

Education includes PhD from Princeton and BS in Physics from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Thompson's work illuminates intersections of acoustics, architecture, and media technology. She pioneered digital soundscape analysis through projects like 'The Roaring Twenties' mapping New York noise.

Publications include 'The Soundscape of Modernity' (MIT, 2002), which received multiple prizes including Edelstein Prize and Acoustical Society Award.

Major honors:

• MacArthur Fellowship (2005)
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Grant
• NEH and NSF funding

Current research examines technical labor during Hollywood's transition to sound films.