Emma Leigh Waldron

Biography

Emma Leigh Waldron, Ph.D., is Assistant Researcher in Internet Culture and Lecturer in the Department of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine. Waldron received her Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Davis, where her doctoral work examined mediated intimacy across HBO, YouTube, and analog role-playing games. Her research sits at the intersection of internet culture and performance studies, with particular focus on affect, embodiment, and digital media genres.

Waldron is a co-founder of *Analog Game Studies*, the first online academic journal devoted to the study of analog games, gaming, and play, which she co-edited from 2014 to 2017 and continues to serve as Editor-at-Large. She is a Co-Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation collaborative research grant focused on designing technologies for marginalized communities, contributing qualitative interpretation and theoretical analysis pertaining to trans communities. Her current book project examines ASMR as a lens for understanding how the internet produces affect and feeling.

At UC Irvine, Waldron teaches undergraduate courses in the Game Design and Interactive Media program and in the School of Information and Computer Sciences, with specializations in narrative, affect, interactive media, and writing. She has presented her work at conferences including the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, the Society for Literature, Science & the Arts, and the Society for the Study of Affect.

Education

• Ph.D. in Performance Studies, University of California, Davis, 2018
• M.A. in Performance Research, University of Bristol, 2012
• B.A. in English, Rutgers University, 2009

Distinctions

• Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Educational Foundation Dissertation Year Fellowship, UC Davis, 2017-2018
• Margrit Mondavi Summer Fellowship, UC Davis, 2016
• Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, UC Davis, 2014-2016