My name is Kris Ligman and I am your friend with a computer. Also, queen of the universe and fourth horsewoman of the ludodecahedronpocalypse. But nevermind that for now.
I am a masters student of critical studies at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. I graduated with a BA in Film/Television from UCLA in 2008 with a thesis on video game audience cultures. My graduate work has been somewhat varied but continues roughly along the same vein. I consider my main research area to be non-playing game audiences and spectators, not that my current department will agree.
My current work is mainly focused on running This Week in Videogame Blogging for Critical Distance, a role I inherited from UWS’s Ben Abraham. I’m also a community advocate for Gamasutra, which involves a great deal of writer scouting. Both jobs keep me pretty much married to my RSS feed. On an average day I go through about 1,000 articles. And yes, despite that volume, I’m always looking for new blogs and new writers, so please drop me a line.
To pay the bills I’ve taken on the Sisyphean task of moderating for an online children’s game. The kids still think I’m a guy, and until misogynistic gamer culture changes, I’m happy to keep things that way. If you’re curious about my day job, I’ve written about it a couple times.
I also freelance for Gameranx and a few other places.
Comments
What I don’t get is how you can do all that and still be a grad student? I guess it takes work being queen. Major props!