Elena Cruz-López is a PhD candidate in musicology with a graduate minor in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She graduated in 2017 from Valparaiso University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Music in violin performance. At Valparaiso University’s 2016 Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression, she presented her project on rock and roll’s influence in politics and North American society by analyzing a number of songs from the 1950s and 1960s. As part of her senior lecture-recital, she presented her research on Samuel Barber’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14, focusing on Barber’s American and European influences. Elena's current research focuses on the music of Motown girl groups, fan reception, and how this music shaped fans’ lives. Her work has been presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association’s Midwest branch. Some of her research interests include popular music in the 20th and 21st centuries, women in popular music, and girlhood in popular culture.