Clair Nguyen
Bio & Education
Ph.D. in Music Theory, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Graduate Certificate in Film & Media Studies, University of Cincinnati
M.A. in Music Theory, Hunter College, City University of New York
M.M. in Piano Performance, University of South Florida
B.M. in Piano Performance, University of South Florida
Biography
Clair Nguyen serves as Lecturer in Music Theory at UNC Greensboro. Her primary research focuses on the intersections of music theory and film & media studies that includes films, music videos, video games, theme park music, Japanese anime, and Hatsune Miku rhythm games. Her secondary research area centers on Vietnamese popular and traditional music, including the vọng cổ tradition. She currently serves as advisor for the UNCG Animation Club as well as co-chair for the Society of Music Theory’s Film and Multimedia interest group.
Nguyen earned her Ph.D. in Music Theory at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and her dissertation develops frameworks and pedagogical possibilities for analyzing rhythmic audiovisual relationships in animated films and mobile games. Nguyen’s interdisciplinary approaches are supported by a Graduate Certificate in Film & Media Studies.
She held the Albert C. Yates Fellowship for minority students at the University of Cincinnati, served as student representative for Music Theory Midwest, and was a recipient of the Presser Scholar award at the University of South Florida. She presented her research at conferences such as All Ears: Music and Sound in and Beyond Disney Theme Parks, the Ludomusicology Study Group of the American Musicological Society, Music and the Moving Image, Music Theory Midwest, the North American Conference on Video Game Music, and the Society for Music Theory. She also presented at the 2025 JAMS@AX Academic Symposium that reached Anime Expo audiences beyond the scope of traditional academia.
Scholarly Creative/Research Activity
Focal Research/Dissertation
“Beyond Mickey Mousing: Audiovisual Rhythm in Animated Film Musicals and Multimedia.” Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1721208611281642
Service
2025–present: UNCG Animation Club advisor
2024–present: Society of Music Theory Film and Multimedia Interest Group, co-chair
Presentations
“Anime Music Academia: Reborn as a music theory student with unlimited potential.” JAMS@AX Academic Symposium, Anime Expo 2025, Los Angeles, CA, July 3–6, 2025.
“Part of that World: Sound-coded Seeing and Being in Theme Park Experiences.” Theme Park Music and Sound Conference: Hearing the Virtual Cue (virtual conference), June 12, 2025.
“The Invisible Hand Strikes the Ear: Shifts in Multimedia and Functional Musicality.” Society for Music Theory, Jacksonville, FL, November 7–10, 2024.
“Respelling Magic: Interactive Wands and Parkgoer-driven Soundscapes at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” All Ears: Music and Sound in and Beyond Disney Theme Parks conference, Rosen College, University of Central Florida, June 20–21, 2024.
Livestream URL: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2024/thursday/4
“Synesthetic Typography: Kinetic Typography and Musical Function in Anime Lyric Videos.” Music and the Moving Image, New York, NY, May 24–26, 2024.
“Beyond Mickey-Mousing: Synch Point Typologies.” Music and the Moving Image, New York, NY, May 26–28, 2023.
“Rhythm Games and the Theory Classroom.” North American Conference on Video Game Music, Stetson University, DeLand, FL, February 4–5, 2023.
“Interactive Rhythmic Streams in Japanese Mobile Rhythm Games.” Co-Op Scholarship: Collaboration in Music, Games, and Play, Ludomusicology Study Group of the American Musicological Society (virtual conference), January 28, 2023.
“Cinesthesic Synesthesia: Seeing and Hearing Cadences in Animated Musicals.” Music Theory Midwest, Lawrence, KS, May 7, 2022.
“The Syncretic Art and History of Vietnamese Vọng Cổ Music.” American Musicological Society and Society for Music Theory (poster session), San Antonio, TX, November 1–4, 2018.
“Journey Incognito: Music Cognition in the PlayStation Game Journey.” Midwest Graduate Music Consortium, Madison, WI, March 31–April 1, 2017.