Faculty

Thompson is a filmmaker, musician, and researcher who received an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California San Diego and an MA in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University. As an arts educator and media producer, she has worked at the Walker Art Center and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has lectured extensively throughout the US and has taught courses in film studies, new media, experimental music, and Javanese gamelan. She recently completed Extinction Number Six, a feature-length essay film tracing the lingering shadow of colonialism in Indonesia. Rachel has been interviewed by Robert Siegel of “All Things Considered” and her work has been featured in the LA Times and the Paris Transatlantic Magazine. Her co-authored article “Performance Art from the Margins” is forthcoming from The Drama Review, MIT Press. As a musician, Rachel performs experimental and improvised music, Balkan folk music, Javanese gamelan, and currently plays violin with Dzian, a band reviving 1960s garage rock from East Asia. She has performed at the Knitting Factory, REDCAT, Issue Project Room, Art Summit Indonesia, the Library of Congress, and the Walker Art Center. (MFA/University of California San Diego, MA/Wesleyan University)