Aleena Chia is a lecturer in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies based at Goldsmiths, University of London. She researches videogame making cultures and digital wellness practices to understand how media technologies automate work and optimise life – shaping inequalities in cultural production. Her research on videogames examines game engines and digital labour. Her work on wellness analyses lucid dreaming, neuro-wearables, and disconnection from social media. 

Dr. Chia received her PhD in Communication and Culture from Indiana University in 2017 and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies in 2018.  She joined Simon Fraser University as an assistant professor in 2019, before moving to Goldsmiths in 2021. 

conferences

• Association of Internet Researchers. Roundtable: generative AI as a media technology, w/ Tarleton Gillespie, Kate Miltner, Caitlin Petre, Jill Walker Rettberg, Luke Stark. 30 October – 2 November 2023• Sheffield, UK.
• Digital Games Research Association. Panelist on 'Critical Video Game Engine Studies' with James Malazita and organisers Ari Gass and Peter McDonald. July 1-5th 2024, Guadalajara, Mexico.
• International Communication Association. Panelist on 'Algorithmic creativity: The implications of Artificial Intelligence on creative labor.' with Joanne Kuai, Pei-Sze Chow, Enongo Lumumba Kasongo, Dal Yong Jin; organised by Alberto Lusoli. 20-24 June 2024. Gold Coast/Hybrid..​​

Invited Talks

• Speculative Machines and Us: Histories and Futures of AI. University of Lancaster. 17 July, 2025.
• Digital Avatars Symposium. ‘Race-Making in Real-Time 3D’. Greenwich University. London, UK. 17 June, 2025.
• Choose Your Own Adventure Symposium. Conversation with Marijam Didzgalvye. FACT, Liverpool. ‘Everything to Play for: Politics, labour, and community in gaming’. 25 April, 2025.
• Race and/as Technology. Goldsmiths Visual Cultures Public Series. “Race-Making in Real-Time 3D.” London, UK. 6 February, 2025.
• Virtual Realisms Talk Series​. 'Capturing Reality, Dis/assembling Worlds’. University of Westminster. 5 December 2024.
• Generative AI and Creative Industries Conference. 
  University of Turin. 28-29 October 2024.

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CV · Talks · Research · journal si · events · TEACHING · contact

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Lately ...

New Publication in The Screens of Virtual Production What is Real? (2025): OA Download

Keynote at IEEE Conference on Games, August 2024

GameIndustry.biz Panel writeup, June 2024

Google Scholar Profile

a.chia (at) gold.ac.uk