My experience with computers began in 1985 as I learned the beauty of Logo on a Packard Bell computer at the vocation school and the ability of a turtle to move through an electronic field by giving the turtle directions. I’ve enjoyed writing programs for computers in BASIC, simple JAVA and ActionScript for years. The connection to the world of cyberstudies came from my first experience on a bulletin board system (BBS) during my middle school years. I got to see virtual interactions on a textual level. Little did I know that I would be studying those interactions for my doctorate later in life.
Comprehending Internet culture requires a person to have a keen understanding of how one connects with others on a social, cultural, and psychological level. Interactions within the online realm will often crossover to the physical world as discussions maintained through computers do not remain there. People bring their beliefs, values,...
The last few months leading up to the National Communication Association's 2020 Annual Conference was marked by the continuous denunciations of the journalistic organizations and platforms that perform the role of maintaining an informed public. Rhetorical attacks came from the bully pulpits and were invoked by those that followed political...
One of the strongest themes from the chapter I wrote about Anthony Bourdain for the Eating Fandom book related to the reasons that his fans enjoyed his work was due to his ability to present his curiosity about the world throughout the various series he produced. His ability to go...
My last post discussed the four journalistic communities and the platforms journalists use to tell audiences the communities' stories. These nexus of platforms formed the foundation of the Journalism Breakdown and developed the techniques that I used to teach journalists how to explain those communities' realities to the broader population....
Those that have been following this website should have noticed that there have been no postings for a year. The reason for the silence from me is due to an opportunity that came up in April 2018. There were several book publishers at the Broadcast Education Association annual conference in...
Square Enix created a series of worlds designed to push the player’s understanding of how social development and interactions could be crafted within the Japanese Role Playing Game genre of video games. The three continents of World A from Final Fantasy I (FF I) to the lonely star known as...
One of the pieces of wisdom that I acquired during grad school was that supposedly a good scholar could explain their research agenda, with clarity and precision, in around 200 words. I could have followed this sage wisdom if my research followed a specific, specialized route. I’ve learned over the...
I am happy to report that SAGE Open has published my presentation from the 2015 National Communication Association Game Studies Pre-Conference ("Introducing Game Studies to the National Communication Association"). “Winning Through Deception: A Pedagogical Case Study on Using Social Deception Games to Teach Small Group Communication Theory” was modified from...
“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.” ~Anthony Bourdain Anthony Bourdain was an adventurer, creative force, writer, and, most importantly, a chef. It is this last role that he was able to explore cultures through the framing of...
Mapping the vital parts of life, much like mapping out the environment of a video game world, involves having a clear understanding of the terrain that is being mapped out. In "Breath of the Wild," a crafted map that a player can find online can be used to show the...
