Shersten Johnson, Assistant Professor of Music Theory at UST, teaches courses in music theory for both undergraduates and graduates. Her interests include twentieth-century opera and art song, as well as cognitive-linguistic, gender, and narrative theories; she has persented her research in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Her publications appear in Music Theory Spectrum, Music & Letters, Opera Today, Music Educator's Journal, and The Journal of Music and Meaning. Her doctoral dissertation engages conceptual modeling of music and text relations in a hermeneutic critique of Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice. The recipient of awards and commissions for her research and compositions, she has also provided leadership for a number of professional organizations and currently serves on the executive board of Music Theory Midwest.

Dr. Johnson received her B.A. in Music from Augsburg College, her M.M. in Composition form California State University-Northridge, and her Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to UST, she has held positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Kansas.