This past May I successfully defended my dissertation entitled “Bootleg Consoles: Culture, History, and Legitimacy at the Margins of Gaming”. I am so happy to say that (barring some paperwork) I have earned my PhD and the title doctor. It’s been a long trip to this point and I’m so grateful to my committee, the Informatics department at UC Irvine, and everyone who has supported me throughout my graduate career. I’m hopeful I can share more about the dissertation soon, but it will make it out in the world in the future at some point.
But I’m not done presenting this work just yet. I’ll be presenting at the Save the Games Symposium at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester New York at the end of August. I’ll be talking about the importance of preserving bootleg video games and the work that needs to be done to make sure these games and devices don’t disappear forever.
And lastly, I’m on the job market! This year I’ll be pursuing teaching opportunities in sociology, games, and related fields. If you know a department or school that could use a sociologist who studies digital media and games, let me know! I’m happy to connect!
That’s all for now! Over the course of the next months, I’ll be submitting some more work to conferences, planning a class for the fall, and just generally surviving. But, I’m looking forward to continuing to research video games and sociology and connecting with other fellow academics and peers.
You can reach me on on Bluesky
You can also reach me on Linkedin
The Sociology of Videogames 