News/Research

Welcoming Emma Fraser

02 Aug, 2021

Welcoming Emma Fraser

We are pleased to announce that Emma Fraser is joining the Berkeley Center for New Media as a Lecturer in New Media and Media Studies!

Emma Fraser joins Berkeley from Lancaster University in the UK, where she held a permanent lecturer position in Media and Cultural Studies in the Sociology Department. Prior to Lancaster, Emma taught on the Society, Culture and Media MA program at the University of Leeds, and has also worked at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Technology, Sydney. Emma holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester.

Emma's research focuses on digital video games, media cultures, and representations of the city, including digital space and place; the imagined ruins of video games, and post-apocalyptic visions of the end of the city. She also researches urban decay and regeneration, using Frankfurt School critical theory to critique city branding and urban exploration practices, and the role of play and media in urban experience.

Emma has published work across sociology, media studies, cultural theory, and geography, including solo and co-authored pieces in Information, Communication and Society; Leonardo Electronic Almanac; Cultural Geographies; the European Journal of Cultural Studies; the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and Visual Communication. Emma also has a number of chapters in collections about apocalypticism, digital media culture, cities, and liminal landscapes.

Emma's teaching is focused on playful media and practice, new media history and culture, and theories of gender, race, sexuality in relation to digital media cultures, urban imaginaries, and video games. At BCNM, Emma will be teaching one of our foundational courses: the History and Theory of New Media Studies.