Biography
Hannah CJ McLaughlin (BYU School of Music, Music History Division) is a passionate teacher and scholar of music history. She earned her bachelor's degree (Music Education) and master's degree (Musicology) at Brigham Young University, and her PhD in Musicology at Princeton University. A teacher first and foremost, she received formal recognition for outstanding teaching from Princeton in Spring, 2023. At BYU, she is responsible for the classes discussing music from the middle ages to 1750. In her research, Dr. McLaughlin primarily explores the many intersections of music with utopianism and other forms of speculative thought, which can be found throughout Western history, from Hildegard to Higdon. Her doctoral dissertation discusses the utopian outlook of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, and she is currently working on a book project exploring music's place within utopian novels ranging from Thomas More to Ursula K. LeGuin. Dr. McLaughlin also explores music and science fiction; in 2024, her article on the music for the Soviet Union's first major sci-fi film, Aelita: Queen of Mars, appeared in 20th-Century Music. Alongside these scholarly preoccupations, Dr. McLaughlin is also a passionate and versatile vocal artist, a pop culture enthusiast, and a composer of experimental music.