Incoming HCC Ph.D. student Kelsea Schulenberg has been awarded both the Clemson Graduate Fellowship and the CECAS Dean’s Fellowship. Kelsea is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication, Technology, and Society (MACTS) at Clemson and will start her Ph.D. study in HCC in Fall 2021. Kelsea’s research focuses on how computing technology can be used to create safer and more welcoming spaces for women in virtual contexts, particularly in online gaming and online community environments.
Kelsea will be advised by Dr. Guo Freeman, Assistant Professor of Human-Centered Computing and director of the CUGAME Lab. The CUGAME Lab uses a human-centered approach to investigate mediated experience and social dynamics forged surrounding technological objects and collaborative systems including multiplayer online games, esports, live streaming, social VR, social media, IoT, and smart city. This lab brings an interdisciplinary perspective to these topics and contributes to a better understanding of the specific ways in which interactive technologies affect and support interpersonal dynamics, in order to design and develop more inclusive, supportive, and fulfilling collaborative online systems. Kelsea is motivated to join the HCC program and the CUGAME lab in the belief that both will provide her with the opportunity to expand her intellectual creativity and research experience by adding a computing focus to her social scientific research background.
