CV - ALEENA L. CHIA

curriculum vitae

Academic Positions

2021— Lecturer, Department of Media, Communications & Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London.

2019-2021 - Assistant Professor (tenure track). Simon Fraser University, School of Communication. Canada.

2018 - Postdoc. Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä, 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

Invited Talks

Italian Sociological Association Conference, Cultural Processes and Institutions Section. Plenary. “Reckoning with Social Media.” Rome, Italy. May 27 2022.
Digital Society @ Manchester Festival. Panel on Economic and political challenges within the Digital Games Industry. “The Artist and Automaton in Digital Game Production.” Manchester, UK. June 7 2022.
University of Antwerp Department of Communication Studies Spring Seminar Series. “Reckoning with Social Media.” (with Jorge, A. and Karppi, T.) Virtual Event. April 19 2022.
University of Jyväskylä. “The Artist and Automaton in Digital Game Production.” Centre for Excellence in Game Culture Studies. Virtual Event. March 15 2022.
Microsoft Research AI and Gaming Research Summit. "Automated Futurisms in Digital Game Production." 24 Feb 2021. [Online]
The Future of Work in the Age of Automation and AI. "The Post-Work Productivity of Everyday Game Making." 15 May, 2020. [Online]
Tampere University Game Research Lab Spring Seminar on Immersive Experiences. Keynote & Discussant. 30th-31st Mar 2020 in Tampere, Finland. [Cancelled]
Science, Technology and Innovation Studies Seminar. "Data-Driven Dreaming and Biopolitical Immediacy." 29 Sept 2018, University of Edinburgh.

Reviewing

Journals: Social Media+ Society,
Big Data & Society
Subjectivity, Digital Society
Science, Technology, & Human Values
Journal of Critical Studies in Media Communications
Journal of Consumer Culture
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
Presses: Rowman & Littlefield
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

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Chia A. (2022) "The Metaverse, but not the way you think: Game engines and automation beyond game development." Critical Studies in Media Communication. Forthcoming.

Chia A. and Ruffino, P. (2022) "Special Issue Introduction: Politicizing Agency in Digital Play After Humanism." OA Download: Convergence. Online first.

Chia, A. (2022) “The Artist and the Automaton in Digital Game Production.” OA Download: Convergence. Online first.

Karppi, T., Chia, A., & Jorge, A. (2021) “In the Mood for Disconnection.” Convergence. Online first.

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

Editorial Projects

Special Issue Editor with Paolo Ruffino. "Politicizing Agency in Digital Play After Humanism" Convergence Download: OA Intro

Chia, A., Jorge, A. and Karppi, T. eds. Reckoning with Social Media. Rowman & Littlefield. Download: OA Intro

Book Chapters

Neves, J., Chia, A., Paasonen, S., & Sundaram, R. (Forthcoming).TechnoPharmacology. In Search of Media Series. Meson/University of Minnesota Press.

Chia, A. and Beattie, A. (2022). “Ethics and Experimentation in The Light Phone and Google Wellbeing.” in Reckoning with Social Media. Download: OA

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

Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings

2021 - “Everything is Connected: Networked Conspirituality in New Age Media.” Aleena Chia, Jonathan Corpus Ong, Hugh Davies, Mack Hagood. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.
2020 - "Disconnection: Designs and Desires." Karppi, Tero, Aleena Chia, Airi Lampinen, Zeena Feldman, Michael Dieter, Pedro Ferreira, and Alex Beattie. AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research.
2013 - "(Invisible) Internet infrastructure labor." Finn, Megan, Ashwin Mathew, ShinJoung Yeo, Lilly Irani, Sheeharsh Kelkar, Aleena Chia, Morgan Ames, and Kate Crawford. 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