News and Announcements
02.08.10 (2:28 p.m. EST): A few morsels of good news! First, I will see many of you at the 2010 ICA Convention in Singapore, where I will be presenting the first study of my three-part disertation looking at the effect of user demand on attentional resources on selective exposure and mood repair to video games; I'll post links to abstracts and other study documents for interested parties. Second, I will be leaving the US for a month in May-June as a guest scholar at the University of Erfurt, where I'll be working with Sven Joeckel to examine how the intuitionist view of morality might be used to study children's reactions to popular media entertainment; specifically, entertainment with 'morally-questionable' content. For anyone who is interested in studying morality or children's media, I'd be more than happy to share the study abstract and data (in fact, we will likely be planning a US replication in 2011). Finally - and this is more a general announcement - I have been working to update and edit the NCA Mass Commnication Division Web site; please check this out and if you're not a member of NCA MCD - consider joining!
12.07.09 (9:43 a.m. EST): Our research team is the best! We just heard word that our latest submission was accepted to the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. This is our second major publication in as many months; congratulations team. You can read an abstract of the study here: [URL].
I've also had a pair of pedagogical reserach papers accepted at two conferences - the Gulf South Summit on Experiential Learning (short version of a very long conference title) and the Appalachian Studies Association conference. These papers chronicle upcoming service learning projects in my Introduction to Media Studies courses here at Young Harris College. I'll post abstracts and slideshow presentations of both studies as I finish them up in under the "Teaching Philosophy" section of this Web site.
11.06.09 (9:59 p.m. EST): I just finished three ICA submissions, so fingers will remain crossed that I will see all of you in Singapore in June, 2010. I'm also preparing for a trip to NCA Chicago from Nov. 12 - 15, so please be sure to seek me out at the conference.
As part of my duties as the Media Studies guru @ YHC, I am currently heading up a Faculty Search Committee to come join our burgeoning program as we continue to expand. We are currently accepting applications for the tenure-track position, and if you are considering a Media Studies-oriented position with boundless opportunity for expansion, I encourage you to read the job call and submit an application. I will also be @ NCA Chicago to conduct pre-interviews. The job call can be viewed here: [.doc]
About me
I am an Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Young Harris College, a small liberal arts college in the beautiful Northern Georgia community of Young Harris. I am also in the final stages of defending my
Ph.D. in Communication/Media Psychology from Michigan State University. In my work, I study the psychology
of media entertainment. My current research - my dissertation work - looks
to replicate and extend the work on selective exposure and mood management
theory to explaining video game play patterns. Aside from this, recent
work of mine has examined the effects of audience presence on video game performance,
the appeal of violent content in video games and films, naturally-mapped
video games and the formation and implementation of mental models, gender attributions in video games, and
video game play patterns in public arcades. Although my interests in entertainment
are not restricted to video games, I consider myself a game scholar primarily.
In addition to these research interests, I am particularly intrigued
with newer media technologies, such as social interaction Web sites, on-line
video gaming services, mobile technologies (i.e., cell phones, PDAs, hand-held
video games, etc.), and naturally-mapped video games (i.e., Nintendo's
Wii), and how these technologies have impacted media production
and consumption trends. Having grown up with technology constantly around me, I am in constant awe at how "going tech" has affected
society, both positively and negatively. As a side note, check out my Twitter [here], Myspace [here], or FaceBook [here].
Along with my research, I maintain a research blog, "On
Media Theory...", which I encourage anyone with an interest in
entertainment media research to visit often. The blog is particularly
useful for engaging in discussions with colleagues from around the globe;
it has been a very fun and fruitful pet project that I hope only continues
to grow in the coming months.
Outside of the University, I'm a former sportswriter and an avid sports fan. I am an all-too-passionate
supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals
(baseball); but I will play and watch just about any athletic event.
My favorite season of the year is College Football season, and I am a
four-year Michigan
State Spartans (football) season ticket holder (now that I'm gone, the team cannot seem to win anymore). Having lived in Michigan
for the better part of the last four years, I have slowly become a hockey
fan as well; especially my Michigan
State Spartans (hockey). If you haven't checked these teams out, you
don't know what you're missing! I'm also very much getting back into collecting comic books; if you are a fellow collector, you should check out my collection list [Excel, last updated 07.15.09]; I'm always in the market to buy, sell, or trade!
