Hi!

I am a sociologist and musician based in Minneapolis.

My academic work examines the political economy of penal development. Currently, I am working to understand why states decide to close prisons, how they select certain prisons for closure, and the effects of a prison closure on the surrounding economy. Here are some of my most current projects:

Seligman, E. & Nam-Sonenstein, B. (2024). 10 ways that mass incarceration is an engine of economic injustice. Prison Policy Initiative.
Phelps, M. S., & Seligman, E. (2024). Probation and the shadow carceral state: Legal envisioning from Minnesota. Theoretical Criminology.
LABR 669 | Labor & Incarceration. Original graduate seminar syllabus for CUNY School of Labor & Urban Studies, 2022.

As a composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, I build music and dance pieces and infuse songwriting with orchestral textures. Here are some upcoming performances and recent projects:

My arrangements for Minneapolis’s Laurels String Quartet and songwriters Annie Humphrey, Barbara Cohen, and Adam Levy will be performed at MacPhail Center for Music on 2/21/26 and Berlin on 3/1/26.
Proxies, developed in artist residency at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2023, will return to the festival for its premiere in summer 2026.
Marks + Channels, Artist residency at Harvard ArtLab (2025).
Original score for dance film, “To and Fro”, below.