| Title | Turns in Game Studies |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | An Interview with Kishonna L. Gray |
| Contributor | victoria l. braegger(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.53288/0441.1.28 |
| Landing page | https://punctumbooks.com/titles/historiographies-of-game-studies-what-it-has-been-what-it-could-be/ |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ |
| Copyright | victoria l. braegger |
| Publisher | punctum books |
| Published on | 2025-07-25 |
| Long abstract | Looking at the future of game studies requires a deep, introspective look at where the field began, considering not only who was left out but why. In a reflection of the gaming industry, much of the early spaces carved out for game studies were dominated by male voices and perspectives. However, just as important as where the field began are the moments when the field experienced a turn. In the early 2010s, game studies began its gradual turn towards inclusivity and diversity, a moment marked by increased scholarly articles and books discussing representation and gaming culture. This interview with Kishonna Gray focuses on her work in facilitating the turn towards gaming culture and representation in game studies, as well as discussions on #CiteHerWork and the Gray Test. The gaming industry is facing a reckoning brought on by decades of exclusive and exploitive practices; questions concerning representation, culture, inclusion, and diversity are at the forefront when discussing the industry. They should be discussed in reference to game studies, as well. We have much work to do; getting there is going to take reflection and a lot of talking. |
| Page range | pp. 631–652 |
| Print length | 22 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
victoria l. braegger (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Technical Communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology, serving as the coordinator for the game studies minor in the Department of English and Technical Communication. Her research frames video game controllers as kinesthetic tools of technical communication, analyzing how controllers contribute to and disrupt conversations on design, remediation, representation, identity, and community in games. She has published her work in in The Journal of Multimodal Rhetorics and SIGDOC Conference Proceedings, as well as in edited collections such as The Ethics of Playing, Researching, and Teaching Games in the Writing Classroom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). victoria is passionate about public scholarship and games preservation. She cohosts the Not Your Mama’s Gamer podcast and is the Senior Assistant Regional Director for the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive.
Kishonna Gray (she/her) is Professor of Racial Justice and Technology in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Her research broadly covers the intersection of race, gender and digital media, with a particular focus on video games and gaming culture. In her book Race, Gender, & Deviance in Xbox Live (Routledge, 2024), Gray examines the racism, sexism, and other types of harassment faced by women and people of color in one of the largest virtual gaming communities and multi-media platforms. She is co-editor of two volumes on culture and gaming, one of which focuses on women as they are depicted in video games, as participants in games culture, and as contributors to the games industry. The second explores the potential of video games to foster change and become a catalyst for social justice. Gray has published widely in academic publications and her work has been featured by a variety of media outlets, such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Paste Magazine, Engadget, BET, and Blavity. She is also a featured blogger and podcaster with “Not Your Mama’s Gamer.” She is also a faculty associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.