Core Group
Prof. Dr. Joost Raessens (Staff)
Function: Professor of Media Theory, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University.
Research: Ludification of culture; games and XR for change in relation to global issues such as climate change, forced migration, and space exploration; playful identities; play as a conceptual framework for the analysis of media use.
j.raessens(at)uu.nl / website
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein
Function: Affiliated Researcher at the Research Institute for History and Culture, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University.
Research: Applied media research; media psychology; violent video games; psychology of humor; toys, play and child development.
j.goldstein(at)uu.nl / website
Dr. René Glas
Function: Assistant Professor, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University.
Research: Control, agency and ownership issues in/around digital games; cheating; “gamification”; digital game history; participatory culture; fan culture; World of Warcraft…
r.glas(at)uu.nl / website
Dr. Michiel de Lange
Function: Assistant Professor New Media Studies, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University; co-founder of The Mobile City.
Research: Mobile and locative games; urban games; play and identity; play as conceptual approach for media analysis.
m.delange(at)uu.nl / website
Dr. Stefan Werning
Function: Associate Professor, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University.
Research: practice-based research, particularly with reference to games; software studies, particularly apps and startups; comparative media analysis
s.werning(at)uu.nl / website
Jasper van Vught
Function: Lecturer in New Media Studies, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University.
Research: videogame theory; game formalism; violence in videogames.
j.f.vanvught(at)uu.nl / website
Michiel Kamp
Function: Junior Assistant Professor
Research: video game music; music and media; music and play; phenomenology and listening.
m.kamp1(at)uu.nl / website
Stephanie de Smale
Function: PhD Candidate (successfully defended in 2019)
Research: Play as epistemology, serious games in education and healthcare, and media history
s.desmale(at)uu.nl / website
Sjors Martens
Function: PhD Candidate
Research: Transmedia, World building, Possible Worlds, Play, Agency, Carnivalesque
S.C.Martens(at)uu.nl / website