Gerald Voorhees

gerald.voorhees@uwaterloo.ca
(519) 888-4567 x 48691
Location: ML 257A 

Gerald Voorhees earned a Ph.D. from The University of Iowa (2008) and holds a B.S. in Speech Communication from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Senior Fellow in the Honors Program of the College of Communication.

His research focuses on games and new media as sites for the construction and contestation of identity and culture. He is also interested in public discourse pertaining to games and new media, as well as rhetorics of race and ethnicity in mediated public discourse. Gerald is co-editor of the Approaches to Game Studies book series (Bloomsbury, 2012 - ) and managing editor of the Gender in Play trilogy (Palgrave-MacMillan 2018). He is Vice-President of the Canadian Game Studies Association, a former member of the Executive Board of the Digital Games Research Association, and a former co-chair of the Game Studies area of the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Nation Conference. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo in Fall, 2013 Gerald taught at Oregon State University and created the Game and Interactive Media Design track for the Communication B.A. at High Point University in North Carolina, USA. He has taught theory, criticism and practice classes in communication studies, media studies, rhetorical studies, and game studies.

Selected publications

“Genre Trouble in Game Studies: Ludology, Agonism, and Social Action.” Kinephanos 2019.

Masculinities in Play. (Co-edited with N. Taylor). (NYC: Palgrave McMillan, 2018)

Feminisms in Play. (Co-edited with K. Grey and E. Vossen). NYC: Palgrave McMillan, 2018. “Constructions of Fatherhood in The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite.” Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media and Technology 9, 2016.

Dungeons, Dragons and Digital Denizens: Digital Role-playing Games. (Co-edited with J. Call and K. Whitlock). NYC: Continuum International Publishing, 2012.

Guns, Grenades and Grunts: First Person-Shooter Games. (Co-edited with J. Call and K. Whitlock). NYC: Continuum International Publishing, 2012.

Courses taught

· DAC 204 – Introduction to Game Design

· COMMST 101 – Introduction to Communication Theory

· COMMST 228 – Public Communication

· COMMST 430 – Communication and Social Justice