gamingforumscholars

=Gaming Forum Scholars:=

Go to the Forum Home. Go to the Forum Proposal. Go to the initial Google Doc discussion.

**Ed Chang** , doctoral candidate in English at University of Washington, working on technoculture, cyberpunk, video games, and queer theory. Lead organizer of the Keywords for Video Game Studies graduate interest group. My game time is mostly spent (these days) on World of Warcraft and Zynga games.

**Ryan Woldruff,**  PhD student in English: Creative Writing, Fiction at U of Tennessee. I’m currently working on a novel and a research study concerning workshop pedagogy with a comp/rhet colleague. I’ve taught Eng 101, a videogame culture research class, and am currently teaching film classes (Film in American Culture and Film Analysis). Hit 85 on my druid a few days before Christmas, and usually spend a few hours a week relaxing on the Xbox (Halo, CoD, any Bioware game).

**Megan Bertelsen,** MA student in Comparative Literature at the University of Washington. I work primarily in queer theory, critical theory, and horror film. I’m a participant in the Keywords for Videogames graduate interest group. I’ve just reactivated my World of Warcraft account after 8 months’ abstinence, but spend most of my game time with single-player rpgs--for Xbox, at the moment, though I’m not a system loyalist.

**Alenda Chang** , PhD candidate in Rhetoric at University of California, Berkeley (and Ed’s sister!). My background is in literature and film (mostly documentary film theory), but I’m working more and more with new media (software studies/game criticism) and ecocriticism. I’m a veteran RPG/MMOG player (Everquest and WoW), though currently on hiatus, doing research on social/casual games and the occasional PS3/PSN title (just finished Prince of Persia and checking out The Sims 3 now, though I’m about to throw the game out the window... I have better things to do with my time than make sure my Sims don’t go to the bathroom at the same time!)

**Timothy Welsh,** PhD Candidate in English at the University of Washington **.** I work on narrative and new media, particularly late-20c meta-fiction and console video games. I’m also in the Keywords Group and help run the Critical Gaming Project at UW. Thanks to Steam I just started branching into PC gaming, though i feel it is hastening the inevitable carpel tunnel. Typically I play narrative-centric games, usually action/adventure, sandbox, or RPG and I have a special fondness for all games Rockstar.

**Terrence Schenold** , PhC in English at University of Washington. I also work on narrative and new media generally, but with emphasis on poetics, reflection and reasoning in narrative media. I mostly play, think, and write about single-player roleplaying games, though I usually have an opinion about everything digital-games related. I, too, am in the Keywords Group and was the founding member of the Critical Gaming Project @UW.

**Michael Barthel** , PhD student in Communication at the University of Washington. My main research area is political communication and institutional trust, but I am interested in video games as a form of procedural communication. How do games simulate large-scale institutional processes, and what do these simulations argue about the way government or other major institutions work? How do NGOs use games to communicate their mission? And so on. I just finished Hard Rain, and I am looking forward to starting Fallout: New Vegas.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Theresa Horstman** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #134f5c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, PhD student in Learning Sciences (College of Education) at the University of Washington. My primary research interests involve analyzing instructional design methodologies for virtual environments. Specifically looking at how game design and critical game theory can help inform design strategies and development. From a content perspective, I want to research which design strategies engage metaphoric process and creative process in meaning making. I just downloaded EVE for the 14-day trial but I primarily play WoW and LOTRO. My new year’s resolution is to play more console games :)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Amanda Phillips** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, PhD student in English at UC Santa Barbara. (weird, my bio must not have saved onto the server before.) I’m interested in the ways non-normativity gets managed in video games, from the level of hardware on up. My interests are in all sorts of games. I’ve most recently finished Bayonetta and have put playing on pause momentarily while I get my prospectus together.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Ergin Bulut,** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> PhD Student University of Illinois. College of Education. I am interested in the changing nature of work in a hugely transnationalized economy. Invested in critical theory and cultural studies, I want to understand the shifting borders between virtual/real, work/fun, labor/leisure. I am intrigued by the aesthetics and narratives in video games and postmodernity.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Richard Mehlinger,** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MA/Ph.D student in History at the University of Riverside. My primary research interest is in the history of games. In addition, I’m interested in the use of games to teach history, and have been following Niall Ferguson’s proposals regarding them with much interest. Personally, I tend to enjoy RPGs and strategy games; <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Fallout 3// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//New Vegas// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> are among my favorites, I’ve recently taken up <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Starcraft II// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, and I thoroughly enjoy Paradox Interactive’s <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Europa Universalis// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Hearts of Iron// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> series. I am also a recovering <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//EVE Online// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #3d85c6; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> player.