Hanisha Kulothparan (she/her) is a Tamil-Canadian who grew up in Toronto, Ontario. A first-generation university student, she is currently a second year Ph.D. student in music theory at the Eastman School of Music. She earned her B.Mus. in music history and theory from Wilfrid Laurier University and her M.Mus. in music theory from Michigan State University. Her current research interests include developing analytical methods for South Indian and Sri Lankan film music, as well as rhythm and meter in rap music and its intersections with critical theories.

Hanisha has presented papers at several regional and national conferences on a wide variety of topics; her paper entitled “Flow in the Alter Egos of Nicki Minaj” was the 2021 recipient of Music Theory Southeast’s Irna Priore Prize, while her paper “Centering Meter, Provincializing the West: Toward a Diversified and Inclusive Music Theory Curriculum” was the 2022 recipient of the Texas Society for Music Theory’s Colvin Award. Hanisha has been invited to several schools as a guest lecturer for her work on Nicki Minaj, including Indiana University and the University of Iowa.

This year, Hanisha will present her paper “’the importance of body language’: Musical Topics and Queerness in Disney’s The Little Mermaid” at the 2023 international conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music. Her forthcoming article “Storytelling and Meter in clipping.’s ‘story 2’” can be found in Modeling Musical Analysis, edited by John Peterson and Kim Loeffert (Oxford University Press).

Outside of theory, Hanisha enjoys jigsaw puzzles, watching Disney movies, and visiting Toronto to see her parents, brother, and grandma.