Academics

Lauren Woolbright

Dr. Woolbright teaches courses in game design, social media, and environmental communication. 

Title

Associate Professor

Discipline

New Media Studies

Educational Background

  • BA, English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • MA, English, Clemson University
  • Ph.D. Rhetorics, Communication and Information Design, Clemson University

I am...

a nerd. But isn’t everybody?

Rank

Associate Professor

My career at Alma began in

2016

I'm an expert in

game design, social media, intersectionality, and environmental media studies

My expertise:

Game Studies

Gender Studies

Race and Ethnicity

Environmental Justice

Signature course(s):

Interactive Media, Ecomedia, Game Design, Tabletop Role-Playing Games

Recent publications:

“Slow Violence in a Digital World: Tarahumara Apocalypse in Mulaka.” Ecofictions, Ecorealities and Slow Violence in Latin America and the Latinx World. Routledge. November 2019.

“Ecofeminism and Gaia Theory in Horizon Zero Dawn.” TRACE. Special Issue: Ecoplay. October 2018.

“OOO, It’s Prey!, or How Did They Know I Always Wanted To Be a Coffee Cup?” Textshop Experiments. August 2018.

“Framing The Blood of the Vampire: A Text-Based Game.” NYMG Journal: Feminist Game Studies. April 2018. http://www.nymgamer.com/?p=17498

(This publication includes the text-based game I designed for my dissertation; with Marie Jarrell, programmer)

“Game Design as Climate Change Activism.” Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment. Special Issue: Green Video Games. 2017. http://ecozona.eu/article/view/1350

“Rise of the Mandalorians: A Star Wars Costuming Fandom Reacts to Intersectional New Canon.” Media Commons: A Digital Scholarly Network. December 2016.

Recent presentations:

Forthcoming: “Role-Playing Peer Review: Games and Gatekeepers” interactive panel. CCCC. March 2021, virtual conference

“Shark versus the Fiery Apocalypse: Play as Shark in Maneater and The World of Darkness.Perishing Twice: Elemental Tensions of Fire and Water in Games. ASLE. June 2019, Davis, CA

“Quest With Class: Interactive Fictions and Diversity.” Interactive Fictions and Accessibility. C&W. May 2018, Fairfax, VA

“Video Game Design as Cli-Fi—and Activism.” Videogames as Ecomedia. ASLE. June 2017, Detroit, MI

“Escort Mission: Navigating the Perils of Gaming with Kids.” Multi-classing IRL: Gamers, Academics, Mothers. C&W. June 2017, Findlay, OH

“Composing Alternative Identities.” Writing, Rhetoric, and Role-Play: Cultivating Writing Connections through Role Playing Games in the Classroom and the Workplace. CCCC. March 2017, Portland, OR

“EcoComposition by Design.” Cultivating Ecocomposition: Enacting, Sustaining, and Innovating Composition Practices in the Anthropocene. CCCC. March 2017, Portland, OR

Creative work:

My Brother’s Wedding, Twine game, in progress

The Blood of the Vampire, text-based video game, 2016

Other recent accomplishments:

I mentor the iGEM team!

Connect with me:

@BrazenSelkie