Carney received her Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at San Diego in 2016. Carney is an interdisciplinary scholar using multiple sources to discuss black queer women’s experiences in the U.S. Southwest. They examine histories of black queer women during different historical moments that defy a politics of respectability in relation to sexuality, class and gender performance. Specifically, Carney examines how surveillance and militarization connects to queerness. Their recent work includes a co-authored peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Popular Music Studies: “Sexual Knowledge and Practiced Feminisms: On Moral Panic, Black Girlhoods, and Hip-Hop.”