Chris Algoo

Michael Anthony DeAnda

Michael Anthony DeAnda is a PhD candidate in Technology and Humanities at Illinois Institute of Technology. His research focuses on how games built for gay male audiences encode gender identity and sexuality. As a game designer, he develops games that comment on sexuality and gender.

Website: madeanda.com

Twitter: @michaelslore

Brian McKernan

Brian McKernan is a Research Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. Brian is also a faculty fellow with Yale University’s Center for Cultural Sociology. His research program is devoted to theorizing, empirically studying, designing, and experimentally testing new and innovative approaches to tackling many of the serious challenges and issues that we face today. In particular, he applies insights from interdisciplinary research on the social roles and significance of media, technology, and popular culture to help develop digital applications that address real-world problems.

Sarah Schoemann

Sarah is a designer and researcher working at the intersection of queer and feminist theory, design studies and human computer interaction. As a doctoral candidate in Digital Media at GA Institute of Technology her research explores the social and technological practices of DIY communities in relation to broader conversations about equity and access in STEM fields.

Website: sarahschoemann.com

Twitter: @schoemannator

 

Yifat Shaik

Yifat is an acclaimed game designer and artist working on creating autobiographical games and subversive art. A Master of Design graduate of OCAD University, she is currently a professor of game design and 3D modeling at York University. Yifat is a member of of Different Games collective, is co-director of Dame Making Games and is currently working on Real Army Simulator.

Website: yifatshaik.com

Twitter: @yifatshaik

 

Kara Stone

Kara Stone is an artist and scholar interested in the affective and gendered experiences of mental illness and healing as it relates to art and videogames. Her artwork has been featured in The Atlantic, Wired, and Vice. She holds a BFA in Film Production and master’s degree in Communication and Culture from York University, and is currently a PhD student in Film and Digital Media with a designated emphasis in Feminist Studies at University of California at Santa Cruz.

Website: www.karastonesite.com

Twitter: @karaastone

 

Michael Vogel

Amanda Wong

Amanda Wong is a curator, post-academic, and a supporter of local games communities. She is currently the Director of Operations at the Hand Eye Society, a non-profit, videogame arts organization.

Twitter: @bunnysteak