Formerly a web editor and developer, I now research at the intersection of digital heritage and participatory cultures. Recent publications have explored; algorithmic systems and digital memory, crypto art and questions of value, social media communications, and varied uses of immersive media. My work is generally collaborative and has included partnership with (for example) Historic Royal Palaces, Imperial War Museums, Tate Britain, Amgueddfa Cymru, yello brick and the Welsh Centre for International Affairs.
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My books include Critical Encounters with Immersive Storytelling [with Alke Gröppel-Wegener, 2019, Routledge], Representation: Key Ideas in Media and Cultural Studies [2015, Routledge] and Museums in the New Mediascape: Transmedia, Participation, Ethics [2014, Routledge]. Edited books include Challenging History in the Museum [2014, Routledge] and Performing Heritage [2011, Manchester University Press].
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I am currently a Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute (2024-6) and a Research Fellow at the Creative PEC.
I am interested, firstly, in how technologies shape the memory work and cultural practices of their users and pro-users. Following a (post)digital arts and humanities approach, I take a long view that spans from the early days of radio to more recent AI synthetic media. Secondly, I study the perceived value of digital practices (eg, immersive experiences, blockchain technologies, machine learning) for different stakeholders in cultural institutions and public service broadcasters, looking at how institutional practices are shaped by technology, and digital and cultural policies. In both approaches, a central focus is on the ethical implications of new technologies, charting the lack of diversity, inclusivity and sustainability of digital initiatives at institutional level, but also as new forms of creative media intersect with corporate interests and narratives. Studying social media campaigns by cultural (relations) institutions, a focus of my work has been on thickening strategies towards a methodology that captures the qualitative dimensions of digital engagement.
Most recently, my work focuses on the concept of ‘synthetic pasts’, exploring the ways past-ness is evoked, framed, re-worked and distorted through automated and algorithmic intermediaries and global media platforms.
​My main interests lie in audiences and my research has focused on how audiences use, abuse and make sense of texts and platforms. I have carried out research into fandom, participatory culture and conspiracy theories as well as how platforms like Twitter and TikTok facilitate these. My recent work has included developing an educational game for people wanting to work in the screen industries and exploring the body as a fieldsite in relation to tattoos and identity. I am currently working an honorary research fellow at Amgueddfa Cymru researching the Jessie Knight archive and contemporary tattoos.
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I am a founding member of the Fan Studies network and co-editor in chief of Popular Communication. I published a book on The X-Files in 2023 and have co-edited collections on crowdfunding and participatory culture wars.
Over the course of the project we have also worked alongside the following: ​
​​Research interns:
Shreyas Jaiswal
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Amshu Vengala
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My primary interests, as a researcher and consumer of media, are concerned with collective memory, cultural propaganda, and decolonization studies. As a student at King’s College London studying Culture, Media, and Creative Industries, I have been able to cultivate my academic focus on South Asian Cultural Studies, researching the position of colonial influence in contemporary media and cultural discourses. I have also received the opportunity to work with Dr Nieto McAvoy as a King’s Undergraduate Research Fellow (KURF), researching media discourse pertaining to the Google Gemini AI controversy, where the software generated historically inaccurate and allegedly biased images. The research we conducted during this fellowship was part of the larger Synthetic Pasts project.
Beyond my academic interests, I am also passionate about the Publishing industry and diversifying literature. I am currently the elected President of the KCL Book Club, one of the largest student-led book clubs in the UK, and the Founder/President of The Editorial Collective, KCLSU’s official society for publishing and media production. Recently, our creative anthology excavating the cyclical nature of human existence, ‘Ouroboros’, won the Student Media award for Best Media Product of the Year. I am currently focusing on writing my final-year dissertation on memory and media studies within the context of the South Asian diaspora.
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​​Researchers:
Dr. Rio Creech-Nowagiel​
Image credit for this page: Google's Duet AI, 30 Nov 2023, prompt by JK_
