Samuel Tobin
Ph.D. candidate, The New School for Social Research
Expected Completion: May 2011
Curriculum Vitae (Adobe PDF)
Dissertation Title
“Hand Held: The Practice and Theory of Technological Play”
Areas of Expertise
Media, Culture, Play
Profile
I am an interdisciplinary scholar who works at the intersections of sociology and media studies with a special interest in play and material culture. I feel that teaching cannot be separated from research and inquiry and that both, at least in my case, refresh and inform each other continuously.
Dissertation Abstract
This dissertation explores play and technology by focusing on portable video game systems, their players and cultures of use. The dissertation approaches portable new media through ethnographic methods by examining the use of a handheld video game system, the Nintendo DS, in a variety of settings. In doing so a thick description and understanding of the practices of mobile players is developed and read against theories of play, space and culture. This dissertation argues for the importance of studying technologically mediated play, as play on such devices has assumed near ubiquity in contemporary urban life. The use of the DS is examined in the context of the dynamics of boredom, attention, perception, and urban space. The dissertationʼs study of how the DS is used has far-reaching implications for the use of other handheld technology, including mobile phones and computing platforms, and consequently, makes substantial contributions to the sociology of play, media and technology as well as to media studies and to the growing field of video or computer game research.
Teaching Experience
I have designed, developed and taught a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in media and cultural studies, among them "The Miniature and the Mobile," "Media Ethnography," and "Video Games." I have taught at Eugene Lang College, The Media Studies Program in the New School for General Studies and at New York University.
Writing Samples
TIME AND SPACE IN PLAY (Adobe PDF)
Contact Information
Department of Sociology
The New School for Social Research
6 East 16th Street
New York, NY 10003
samueltobin@gmail.com
http://samueltobin.com/
