Yan Gao, PhD Candidate

Yan Gao is a PhD candidate in Critical Music Studies at Stony Brook University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Colorado College and a Master's degree in Music History and Theory from Stony Brook University. Yan’s current research focuses on the cultural discourse of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s as expressed through music. She examines its illocutionary force and its articulation of life, trauma, mourning, and commemoration. In 2023, Yan was also a recipient of the IDEA graduate fellowship and collaborates on several projects with the academic planning team to further promote Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access at Stony Brook University.