The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been in the minority… It will take such a small committed minority to work unrelentingly to win the uncommitted majority. Such a group may transform America’s greatest dilemma into her most glorious opportunity.
Background
Kishonna L. Gray is founding director of the Critical Gaming Lab at Eastern Kentucky University, where she is also a member of the faculty in the School of Justice Studies, African/African-American Studies, & Women & Gender Studies. She earned a PhD in justice studies with a concentration in media, technology, & culture from the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University, and an MS in justice studies from the School of Justice at Eastern Kentucky University.
Interests
Gray’s work broadly intersects identity and new media although she has a particular focus on gaming. Her most recent book, Race, Gender, & Deviance in Xbox Live, provides a much-needed theoretical framework for examining deviant behavior and deviant bodies within that virtual gaming community. Previous projects have used critical discourse analysis to examine the racialized constructions of Black victims post-hurricane Katrina and examined the intersecting realities of women of color in Xbox Live.
News Items
MIT Humor Series: Nathan Zed (YouTube and Vine star) in conversation with Jonny Sun and Kishonna Gray, on black cultural production online.
MLK Visiting Assistant Professor Kishonna Gray discusses representation online and in media.
Boston Indies: “Black Stories and Digital Narratives: What do Black lives look like in gaming?”
MLK Visiting Professor Kishonna Gray gives a talk for Boston Indies, a community of independent game developers.
Sample Work
Publication
Race, Gender, & Deviance in Xbox Live: Theoretical Perspectives from the Virtual Margins
Race, Gender, & Deviance in Xbox Live: Theoretical Perspectives from the Virtual Margins. Foreword by David J. Leonard. Routledge, 2014.
Publication
Video Games, Culture, & Justice
Video Games, Culture, & Justice. With David J. Leonard & Andre Brock. Prospectus in Development for University of Minnesota Press (forthcoming).
Publication
Gender & Games Trilogy: Women’s Studies Volume
Gender & Games Trilogy: Women’s Studies Volume. With Gerald Voorhees & Emma Vossen. Palgrave (forthcoming 2016).
Publication
Perspectives on Justice
Perspectives on Justice (2nd ed.). With Doris Marie Provine, Reshawna Chapple, Michael Walker, & Ophir Sefiha. Kendall Hunt, 2011.