Andy is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Journalism and Communication who works at the intersection of game studies and critical/cultural studies, focusing on the memetic discourses and paratexts produced by online gaming communities. His dissertation examines the influence of the online far-right in gaming culture, particularly in shaping attitudes and expectations toward games and gaming.

Andy has published original co-authored research in the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports and a book review in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. His work has been presented at the annual conferences of the International Communication Association, Digital Games Research Association, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, Western States Communication Association, Southwest Popular Culture Association, Esports Research Network, and Meaningful Play.

Before attending the SOJC, Andy was an adjunct communication studies lecturer in the School of Language Arts and Communication at Long Beach City College and Humanities Division at Fullerton College. 

Education

• Ph.D. in Communication and Media Studies, 2021-Present
• M.A. in Communication Studies, San Francisco State University, 2018
• B.A. in Communication Studies, University of San Francisco, 2016                                                                                                                

Publications

• Wilson, A. (Under review). Playable Histories, Playable Hegemonies: Understanding Resistance to Diverse Representation in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Manuscript submitted for publication. Critical Studies in Media Communication.
• Wilson, A., Cote, A., Foxman, M., Harris, B., Hansen, J. Can, O., & Rahman, W. (Under review). In/Visible Hurdles: U.S. Collegiate Esports Participants' Perceived Barriers to Play and Involvement. New Media & Society.
• Wilson, A. & Burrell, S. (Manuscript solicited). Committed to Play: Revisualizing Video Game Uses and Gratifications During COVID-19. First Monday.
• Harris, B. C., Wilson, A., Cote, A., Foxman, M., Burrell, S., Rahman, M., Hansen, J., Can, O., & Fickle, T. (Manuscript solicited). Is it worth it? A Critical Examination of Exploited Labor and Cruel Optimism in Collegiate Esports. Journal of Communication.
• Cote, A., Wilson, A., Hansen. J., Harris, B., Rahman, M., Can, O., Fickle, T., and Foxman, M. (2023). Taking Care of Toxicity: Challenges and Strategies for Inclusion in U.S. Collegiate Esports Programs. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1123/jege.2022-0031

Reviews

• Wilson, A. (2023). Book review: Understanding Collegiate Esports: A Practitioner’s Guide to Developing Community and Competition. Convergence, 29(5), 1409-1411. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565231184706

Refereed Conference Proceedings

• Foxman, M., Can, O., Wilson, A., Cote, A., Harris, B. C., Rahman, M. W. U., Hansen, J. & Fickle T. (2023, June). Facilitating Collegiate Esports: Limiting and Legitimizing Competitive Gaming. DiGRA ’23 – Proceedings of the 2023 DiGRA International Conference: Limits and Margins of Games. http://digra.org:9998
• Can, O., Foxman, M., Wilson, A., Cote, A., Rahman, W., Burrell, S, Harris, B. C., Hansen, J., & Fickle T. (2023, June). The Limits of Influence: Negotiating the Hegemony of Game Companies in Collegiate Esports in the US. DiGRA ’23 – Proceedings of the 2023 DiGRA International Conference: Limits and Margins of Games. http://digra.org:9998/DiGRA_2023_CR_770.pdf
• Cote, A., Rahman, M. W. U., Foxman, M., Wilson, A., Burrell, S. L., Harris, B.C., Can, O., Hansen, J. C., & Fickle T. (2023, June). The Fandom Frontier: Understanding the Limitless(?) Potential of Collegiate Esports Fans. DiGRA ’23 – Proceedings of the 2023 DiGRA International Conference: Limits and Margins of Games. http://digra.org:9998/DiGRA_2023_CR_2325.pdf
• Foxman, M., Cote, A. C., Wilson, A., Can, O., Hansen, J. C., Harris, B. C., Rahman, M. W. U., Fickle, T. (2022, November). Sustainable Grassroots: Tensions, Expectations and Recommendations in Formalizing Collegiate Esports. Esports Research Network Conference. 25–28 https://esportsresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01

Refereed Conference Presentations

• Foxman, M., Cole, C., Fairchild, T., Cote, A., & Wilson, A. (2024, June). The Collegiate Census: Mapping U.S. Esports. Paper accepted to the 74^th International Communication Association Annual Conference. Gold Coast, Australia.
• Abdenour, J., Wilson, A., Hedding, K., & Dahmen, N. (2024, June). Woman vs. Woman vs. Woman: Gender, Media Attention, and Voting Impact in an All-Female Election. Paper accepted to the 74^th International Communication Association Conference. Gold Coast, Australia.
• Wilson, A. & Burrell, S. (2024, June). Committed to Play: Revisualizing Video Game Uses and Gratifications During COVID-19. Paper accepted to the 74^th International Communication Association Annual Conference. Gold Coast, Australia.
• Cote, A. & Wilson, A. (2024, June). #whatagamedevlookslike: Marginalized Gameworkers and Oscillating Public Spheres. Paper accepted to the 74^th International Communication Association Annual Conference. Gold Coast, Australia.
• Wilson, A. (2024, March). God Bless the South, Brother: A Paratextual Analysis of War of Rights Steam Reviews. Paper presented at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference’s Video Game Studies SIG. Boston, Massachusetts.
• Wilson, A. (2023, May). It’s just a prank, bro: Examining the Memetic Discourses of Far-Right Politics in Game-Adjacent Spaces. Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference’s Game Studies Division Pre-Conference. Toronto, Canada.
• Wilson, A. (2023, May). Do You Guys Not Have Any Phones? Why Game Studies Needs Memetics. Paper presented at the 73^rd International Communication Association Conference. Toronto, Canada.
• Burrell, S. & Wilson, A. (2023, May). I was Born Again: En-Roling and De-Roling in Virtual Reality Through the Affect Lens. Paper presented at the 73^rd International Communication Association Annual Conference. Toronto, Canada.
• Cote, A., Harris, B. C., Wilson, A., Hansen, J., Can, O., & Rahman, M. (2023, May). (In)Visible Hurdles: U.S. Collegiate Esports Participants’ Perceived Barriers to Play and Involvement. Paper presented at the 73^rd International Communication Association Annual Conference. Toronto, Canada.
• Harris, B. C., Wilson, A., Cote, A., Burrell, S., Fairchild, T., Hansen, J., Can, O., & Rahman, M. (2023, May). Is it worth it? Student Media Workers’ Cruel Optimism in Collegiate Esports. Paper presented at the 73^rd International Communication Association Annual Conference. Toronto, Canada.
• Wilson, A. (2023, February). Isolation Play: Video Game Uses and Gratifications During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Paper presented at the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Bouzek, D. & Wilson, A. (2022, October). Falling Out of the Real-World and Into Right-Wing Inceldom: Redditors’ (Mis)reads of Political Themes in Fallout 4. Paper presented at the Meaningful Play Conference. East Lansing, Michigan.
• Harris, B., Foxman, M., Can, Ö., Hansen, J., Cote, A., Rahman, M., Fickle, T., & Wilson, A. (2022, June). Platform Jumpers in an Ivory Tower: The platformization of U.S. universities through esports. Paper presented at the Global Perspectives on Platforms & Cultural Production Conference. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 
• Wilson, A. (2022, April). Into the Mouth of Hell We March: North American Heavy Metal Culture and Its Relation to Mainstream Society. Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference. [Virtual]
• Wilson, A. (2018, February). World of Women(craft): An Analysis of Gender Portrayal in World of Warcraft. Paper presented at the Western States Communication Association Conference. Santa Clara, California.