Lecturer

they/she

Tesla Cariani is a Full-Time Lecturer of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Boston University. As a scholar and teacher of queer and trans visual cultures, Cariani’s research on contemporary media, film, and literature examines how embodiment is fundamentally shaped by the visual. Cariani holds a PhD in English and as well as a certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University (2021). Before joining the WGS Program at Boston University, Cariani was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Emory University (2021-2022) and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Rice University (2022-2024). Cariani’s writing has been published in Parallax, PMLA, The LGBTQ+ Comics Studies Reader (winner of the 2023 Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work), and The Routledge Handbook of Trans Literature.
Teaching & Research Interests:
  • Queer and Trans Theories
  • LGBTQIA2S+ Film, Media, and Literature
  • Visual Culture Studies
  • Cinema Studies
  • Affect Theory
  • Postcolonial Studies
  • Critical Disability Studies
  • Popular Culture
  • Histories of Activism