My academic and professional background bridges arts administration, education, and critical theory, all fields that have shaped how I understand institutions, audiences, and the politics of cultural participation. As I transition into the world of ludology and communications, I am guided by a central question: how can emerging media, especially games, serve as community-driven third spaces for identity formation, resistance, and connection, particularly among historically marginalized groups?
The writing samples on this site trace that evolution. How Did They Know They Were a People? examines how racialized communities resist systemic violence and forge solidarity across borderlands of exclusion. This work is representative of my interest in Oldenburg's concept of "third spaces", or, non-institutional environments where collective identity and empowerment emerge. Similarly, Attack on Fascism uses critical media theory to reinterpret mass narratives, suggesting how global storytelling can disrupt authoritarian ideologies. Pieces like Chaining Command and Is it All About the Green? critique traditional arts institutions and explore participatory alternatives to hierarchy and gatekeeping. Finally, Experiencing Feeling, Feeling an Experience merges affect theory with community building, gesturing toward how immersive environments (virtual or physical) generate meaningful emotional engagement.
Below the Selected Works, you can also find a list and brief summary of personal research writings I'm currently working on.
Attack on Fascism: How Shingeku no Kyojin Argues for Internationalism
Among 21st-century Japanese media, Attack on Titan stands out as a global cultural phenomenon. While often critiqued for nationalist undertones, this article argues that the series critiques authoritarianism, biopolitics, and racialized violence. Using Foucault, Arendt, and Lisa Lowe, I position the show as a call for internationalist ethics and a warning against ideological manipulation of collective memory.
Tags: Article | Critical Media Theory | Anime Studies
Chaining Command: Communications Within Organizations
The field of arts management, born from a postwar expansion in public funding and a demand for professionally trained arts managers, quickly adapted frameworks from business, communications, military-industrial systems to meet the organizational needs of a growing arts sector. While these frameworks offered operational stability, they often undermine creativity, equity, and worker autonomy. Drawing on Weber, Fayol, Meyerson, and contemporary leadership theory, the piece critiques top-down systems and argues for more participatory approaches to management that align with modern values.
Tags: Article | Organizational Theory | Creative Justice | Institutional Culture
Digital Marketing Efforts: Performing Arts Organizations in the United States
This proposal examines the inconsistent effectiveness of digital marketing strategies across U.S. performing arts organizations. It outlines a plan to synthesize expert opinions with survey and interview data from rural and urban institutions to evaluate which digital strategies support sustainable audience engagement. The goal is to address gaps in current literature and offer practical, data-informed insights for marketing in nonprofit cultural sectors.
Tags: Research Proposal | Arts Marketing | Digital Strategy
Experiencing Feeling, Feeling an Experience
Using Dewey’s concept of “an experience” and Springgay’s theory of “feltness,” this paper explores how theatre environments create affective atmospheres that engage audiences beyond surface-level entertainment. By emphasizing embodied interaction and immersive emotion, the work offers a framework for reimagining theatrical spaces as sites of community healing and meaningful connection—particularly in a post-COVID cultural landscape.
Tags: Conference Submission | Affect Theory | Community Engagement
How Did They Know They Were a People? Literature, Labor, and Politics in Modern Racial Divisions
This paper draws on Gloria Anzaldúa’s identity theory and Omi & Winant’s racial formation theory to explore how marginalized U.S. communities construct racial identity under overlapping systems of exclusion. Focusing on Queer Black communities, Asian sex workers, DREAMERs, and Arab Americans post-9/11, it identifies two core themes: the formation of transcultural identity in "borderlands" of exclusion, and the enduring violence of white, patriarchal power structures. It argues for a dynamic view of racial identity shaped by systemic oppression, lived experience, and collective resilience.
Tags: Article | Critical Race Theory | Cultural Identity | Belonging
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated significant emergency funding to support U.S. performing arts organizations amid the Great Recession. This paper analyzes the effects of the 2009 ARRA stimulus on U.S. performing arts organizations, focusing on short-term relief and long-term structural challenges. It critiques the funding model’s reliance on external bailouts and advocates for sustained, community-centered investment in cultural institutions.
Tags: Article | Cultural Policy | Crisis Response
This work will examine how Wizards of the Coast has responded to modern calls for racial justice by overhauling race mechanics, terminology, and lore in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) 2024 Player’s Handbook (2024 PHB). The piece critically analyzes how race-based ability score bonuses, racial essentialism, and fantasy worldbuilding norms have been revised in response to pressure from both activist players and public discourse and the public perception of these changes after the fact. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding theory, Lisa Nakamura’s work on racialized digital embodiment, and Adrienne Shaw’s insights into representation and player identity, this project investigates how fantasy systems serve as ideological battlegrounds. It also explores how player feedback loops, Twitch and YouTube discourse, and social media backlash have shaped design changes like the shift from “race” to “species,” and the restructuring of background-based ability modifiers. Ultimately, the article considers whether these mechanical and lexical changes reflect meaningful ideological shifts—or whether they represent a strategic form of “performative design,” signaling progress without truly shifting power within the D&D ecosystem.
Tags: Game Studies | Race & Representation | Community Response