starting my mfa

okay, so technically i started the DANM program five weeks ago, but there's been a lot of adjustment so I'm cutting myself some slack. i didn’t know i was going to apply to the MFA program until january of this year and the combination pandemic-class war has been really intense and scary and draining, so i didn’t get to do all the research that i was looking forward to doing this summer. my plan was to read texts about queerness, gender, and identity in game studies and game design. when i applied, i mentioned an interest in queerness, accessibility, and challenging systems and structures of power. my focus has since changed slightly. namely, i want to shift my research away from accessibility (not abandon it, it is imperative that my work is accessible) and towards queerness and identity specifically in the context of Gothic literature and game design that promotes Gothic themes of villainy, monstrousness and identity, absolute morality, queerness, and (religious) abuse and trauma. i'm considering focusing on vampires (and werewolves) and the current format i'm imagining is some sort of rpg/visual novel-adjacent design to allow a narrative element shape the player experience. i’m currently compiling notes and quotes from my self-assigned readings and plan on creating both queer and Gothic design pillars for my thesis work.

this is the introduction presentation i gave to my peers.