Department of History

Max's dissertation, titled, "Oceanic Listening: Cetaceans, Disability, and the Environmental History of Underwater Sound" focuses on how humans, whales, and dolphins have made noise and listened to each other over the past 200 years in the context of U.S. imperialism. They focus on subjects ranging from 19th-century whaling, to post-World War II marine bioacoustics, to the incorporation of humpback whale song into human music. In addition to a broad interest in environmental histories of ocean science and popular culture, they are interested in how these topics intersect with sound studies and sensory history as well as work in disability studies on topics such as animals, pain, and deafness. As an autistic scholar, they are committed to exploring the relationship between disability and the environment in their scholarship and anti-ableist pedagogy in their teaching.