shira chess
... media studies | gender studies | communication studies ...
Curriculum Vitae
Download a pdf version of my cv
Education
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Dept. of Language, Literature, & Communication, Troy, NY
PhD, Communication and Rhetoric, August 2005 – Present
Coursework GPA: 4.0
Expected Dissertation Defense, Spring 2009
Dissertation Proposal Accepted March 6, 2008
Dissertation: License to Play: Women, Productivity, and Video Games
Committee Members:
Emerson College
Dept. of Media Arts, Boston, MA
MA, Media Studies, January 2001 - December 2003
Coursework GPA: 3.9
Thesis Defense, December 2003
Thesis: (En)Gendering the Boob Tube: Technology, Agency and the Action TV Femme
Committee Members:
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL
BA, English, August 1991 - August 1995
Research Interests
While my overall research interests are broad—extending to many areas of communication and media studies—I am specifically interested in gender differences and how they relate to digital play. In my dissertation, License to Play: Women, Productivity, and Video Games, I investigate the relationship between gender and play. In my dissertation, I analyze several video games, advertising campaigns, and video game reviews and blogs all relating to femininity and play. It is my contention, that this is a vital area of study: as more games are being advertised to, produced for, and played by women it is becoming important to understand the how play is culturally constructed by gender, and how these constructions are often marginalizing and essentializing.
My research approach tends to be cross-disciplinary, integrating several areas including media studies, gender studies, rhetoric, science and technology studies, video game studies, and leisure studies. While I plan to continue investigating this research area, I also intend to extend my research to look at other factors including race and class. I would also like to take a more hands-on and empirical approach to studying play and leisure, specifically the play patterns of women. This, I believe, will attract funding.
Academic Publications
Chess, S. (2008). “The C-Word: Queering the Cylons.” Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?. Eds. Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin. (p. 87-94.).Chicago, Ill: Open Court Press.
Chess, S. (2008). “Playing the Bad Guy: Grand Theft Auto in the Panopticon.” A Strategy Guide for Video Game Studies: Essays on the Intersection Between Games and Gamers. Ed. Nathan Garrelts. North Carolina: McFarland Press, 2005.
Publications in Review
Chess, S. (2008). “A 36-24-36 Cerebrum: Gendering Video Game Play Through Advertising.” September 2008. Submitted to Games and Culture. Currently in Review.
Chess, S. (2008).“How to Play a Feminist.” Submitted to Thirdspace. September 2008. Currently in Review.
Chess, S. & C. O’Donnell. (2008). “Will the Real Power Gamer Please Stand Up: Oprah Gamers, Hardcore Gamers and Productive Play.” Submitted to Convergence. August 2008. Currently in Review
Conference Papers
Chess, S. (2008). “Balancing on the Great Gender Platform (Watching the Video Game Sharks Below)” Internet Research 9.0. Copenhagen, Denmark. (forthcoming)
Chess, S. & A. Davisson. (2008). “36-24-36 Cerebrum: The Nintendo DS and Gendered Advertisements.” William A. Kern Conference on Visual Communication: Rhetorics and Technology. Rochester, NY. April 10, 2008.
Chess, S. (2007).“What Do Feminists Know About Play Anyway? Understanding Feminism Through Digital Play.” The Society for Social Studies of Sciences. Montreal, Quebec. Oct. 11, 2007.
Chess, S. (2007). “My Gnome, My Guild, My Self: MMOs and the Collective Projective Identity.” National Pop Cultural Association. Boston, Massachusetts. April 4, 2007.
Chess, S. (2007). “Commentary Without Pity: Retelling, Rewriting, and Recapping the Television Text.” International Conference on Narrative. Washington DC. March 15, 2007.
Chess, S. (2007). “From Pink Games to Frag Dolls to Brain Age: The Changing Space of Gendered Games.” Science and Technology Studies Conference: Metamorphasis. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. February 17, 2007.
Chess, S. (2006).“The C-Word (Cylon!): Battlestar Galactica and the Technoqueer.” Midwest Popular Culture Association, Indianapolis, Indiana. October 27, 2006.
Chess, S. (2003). “Technology, Femininity, and Fabulous Accessories: Alias and Cyborg Representation.” Media in Transition 3, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. May 5, 2003.
Invited Lectures
Chess, S. (2007).“Thinking Beyond Pink: Navigating the Intersection of Gender, Play, and Technology.” Colloquium series for the Department of Language, Literature, and Communication. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. April 3, 2007.
Chess, S. (2005). “Playing the Bad Guy: Grand Theft Auto in the Panopticon.” Guest speaker as part of a speaker series on new media. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. October 24, 2005.
Awards and Recognition
Humanities and Social Sciences Fellowship
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2007-2009
This competitive prestigious fellowship is awarded to a small number of doctoral students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute covering all fees and stipends for the final two years of study. I competed with several other students in humanities, social sciences, arts, and architecture both in and out of my department, and I was ultimately awarded the H&SS Fellowship for my dissertation research.
McKinney Writing Award, Essay Competition (1st Place), 2007
For the essay “My Gnome, My Guild, My Self: MMOs and the Collective Projective Identity.”
McKinney Writing Award, Essay Competition (2nd Place), 2008
For the essay “How to Play a Feminist.”
Academic Employment
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Graduate Teaching Assistant, August 2005 - Present
Course Taught:
Endicott College, Beverly, MA
Adjunct Professor, Sept. 2004 – May 2005
Courses Taught:
Emerson College, Boston, MA
Graduate Assistant, January 2002 – May 2003
Guest Lecturer
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Emmanuel College,
Professional Affiliations
Service Commitments
Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace
Since November 2006, I have volunteered with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (ABTeC), a group based out of Concordia College in Montreal. ABTeC’s primary goal is currently the use of games and gaming technologies to work with Canadian Aboriginal youth, giving them both opportunities to work with emerging technologies, and using those technologies to teach them about their cultures. I have attended several ABTeC meetings and workshops—both at Concordia and virtually.
Peer Reviewer
Children, Youth and Environments, Special issue on Children in Technological Environments:
Interaction, Development, and Design
Summer 2008
Usable Content in a Post-Document World
I contributed research to this Society for Technical Communications grant, with several other students and faculty members in my department. Specifically, I worked with Dr. Katherine Isbister and Dr. James Watt to develop game environments for helping people who abuse drugs and alcohol.
December 2005 – Jun 2006
Selected Professional Experience
1st Playable Productions, Troy, NY
Researcher, May 2006-August 2006
My work at 1st Playable Productions involved various modes of research for their forthcoming game, GoPets. For this game, I created and analyzed customer surveys and did some preliminary and interviewed adolescent girls who play-tested the game.
Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA
Web Developer, May 2001 – July 2005
Working for the college technology division of the publishing company Houghton Mifflin, I created textbook web sites (for both students and instructors) using various technologies including Dynabase, Macromedia Flash, and HTML.
Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Academic Web Designer, March 1998 - January 1999
At Nova, I developed one of the first complete online MBA programs, allowing students to receive a master's degree without ever having to enter a classroom. I collaborated closely with faculty to develop tools for this emerging industry.