CV - ALEENA L. CHIA

curriculum vitae

Academic Positions

2019 — Assistant Professor. Simon Fraser University, School of Communication. Canada. Affiliated Faculty, Digital Democracies Institute

2018 - Postdoc Researcher. Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Music, Art, and Culture Studies. Finland.

2015 - PhD Research Intern. Microsoft Research New England; Social Media Collective. USA.

Education

2017 - Ph.D. In Communication and Culture, Minor in Telecommunications. Indiana University Bloomington
Advisor: Mary L. Gray (Microsoft Research); Committee: Harmeet Sawhney (IU Media School), Susan Lepselter (IU Anthropology), Robert Ivie (IU Communication & Culture)

2002 - BA in Sociology, Minor in Cultural Studies (First-class honours). University of Melbourne

Grants

2021 - SFU/SSHRC Small Research Grant
2013 - Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Dissertation Fieldwork Grant

Reviewing

Journals: Science, Technology, & Human Values; Journal of Critical Studies in Media Communications; Journal of Consumer Culture; Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
Presses: Rowman & Littlefield International
Conferences: Association of Internet Researchers; Digital Games Research Association; European Communication Research and Education Association; Foundations of Digital Games Conference; GamiFIN Conference; Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Invited Talks

"Automated Futurisms in Digital Game Production" at Microsoft Research AI and Gaming Research Summit. 24 Feb 2021. [Online]
"The Post-Work Productivity of Everyday Game Making" The Future of Work in the Age of Automation and AI." 15 May, 2020. [Online]
Keynote & Discussant at Tampere University Game Research Lab Spring Seminar on Immersive Experiences. 30th-31st Mar 2020 in Tampere, Finland. [Cancelled]
"Data-Driven Dreaming and Biopolitical Immediacy" at the Science, Technology and Innovation Studies Seminar. 29 Sept 2018, University of Edinburgh.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Chia, A., Keogh, B, Leorke, D., & Nicoll, B. (2020) "Platformization in Game Development." OA Download: Internet Policy Review. 9(4)

Chia, A. (2020) "Productive Leisure in Post-Fordist Fandom." Journal of Fandom Studies. 8(1): 47-63

Chia, A. (2019) "The Moral Calculus of Vocational Passion in Digital Gaming." Television & New Media. 20(8): 767-77

Chia, A. (2019) "Virtual Lucidity: A Media Archaeology of Dream Hacking Wearables." OA Download: Communication +1. 7(2)

Chia, A. (2017) "Scaling Technoliberalism for Massively Multiplayer Online Games." OA Download: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. 10(3)

Chia, A. (2012) “Welcome to Me-Mart: The Politics of User Generated Content in Personal Blogs.” American Behavioral Scientist. 56(4): 421-438

Book Chapters & Editorials

Chia, A. (2021) "Self-making and Game-making in the Future of Work." Game Production Studies. Download: Amsterdam University Press.

Chia, A., Jorge, A. and Karppi, T. eds. (Forthcoming) Reckoning with Social Media: Disconnection in the Age of the Techlash. Rowman & Littlefield.

Conference Proceedings

2020 - "Disconnection: Designs and Desires." Karppi, T., Chia, A., Lampinen, A., Feldman, Z., Dieter, M., Ferreira, P., & Beattie, A. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.
2013 - "(Invisible) Internet infrastructure labor." Finn, M., Mathew, A., Yeo, S., Irani, L., Kelkar, S., Chia, A., Ames, M., & Crawford, K. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.

Non-Peer Reviewed Publications
Articles

2020 - "Diagrams of Flexibility in the Future of Work." Centre for Ethics Journal, University of Toronto.
2020 - New Age Media. “There are Infinities within the Mind: Isolation Tanks and Psychonautic Capitalism.” In Media Res.
2014 - “Vemödalen and The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Antenna.
2013 - “More Lively than Life is our Motto: Better Living through Gamification.” Antenna.
2012 - “Oops, I Swiped my Book: Nostalgia and Finitude in Digital Media.” Antenna.

Book Reviews

Microsoft Research AI and Gaming Research Summit
February 24, 2021.