What I’ve been up to

From 2019-2022, I worked as an FRQSC postdoctoral scholar at the University of Calgary, collaborating with the Research on Comics, Con Events and Transmedia Laboratory at Carleton University. During my time at U of C/the RoCCET Lab, I researched the impact of COVID-19 on the fan festival sector and began a project with Drs. Benjamin Woo and Anna Peppard looking at Wizard magazine, a defunct pop culture publication that dominated 90s geek news (check out our zine!). From 2022-2023, I worked at Concordia’s Technoculture, Art & Games Research Centre (TAG) as lab coordinator and project manager for several research grants. This led to my appointment as a postdoctoral fellow with the Games as Research grant, where I will be studying how game designers make decisions until 2026.

I live in Montreal with Amanda, Mimosa, and Cobalt.

About

Hi! I'm a new media scholar interested in issues of transmedia, intellectual property and authorship, digital materiality and fandom. While I like a lot of stuff, most of my output ends up being connected in some way to either games or comics. My approach combines slapdash media studies, haphazard poststructuralism, materiality, and a smattering of theories from other schools. I'm always looking for the connections that keep objects and cultures alive and active. 

I’ve been at this a while now, and though my research interests and objects of study are pretty diverse, I think that my work usually tends to end up having my think about three things:

Production cultures. What relationships product a piece of media before it reaches us? How does creativity function in a massively collaborative environment like a AAA game, blockbuster movie set, or comic book publisher? And what rich, complex dynamics determine who does what, and who gets credit? I’m fascinated by what happens behind the scenes in media production, and the clues that the final product leaves behind for us.

The politics of form. Define “comic” for me. Define “game.” Define “toy.” I promise you, whatever answer you give, I’ll pull an example out of my desk drawer that will challenge that definition. I love going to the boundaries of a given medium and seeing what bleeds through to other formats. While I’m happy thinking about the unique affordances of a teapot or palm pilot, I’m especially obsessed with unpacking what happens to content as it moves from one medium to another, and the impact that has on how stakeholders interpret it.

Transmedia franchises. My interests come frequently come together in discussions of transmedia, and the tensions between the strategic model of the franchise as a business and the narrative needs of the franchise as a storytelling form. How do the people behind big icons and properties try to turn us into fans with an identity-based investment in a brand? And how does a brand try to signal to everyone at once in a never-ending race to grow itself? While I look at all kinds of entertainment franchises, from pro sports to pop idols, I’m most keen on the geek stuff that I grew up with.