Spring 2025

Section 4450 of MEDIA4
Introduction to Mass Communication -- : Jan 22 - May 16 2025
This is a late start class. Classes will meet in-person. Remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 4611 of MEDIA4
Introduction to Mass Communication -- : Jan 21 - May 16 2025
All content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 5452 of MEDIA6
Media, Culture, and Identity -- : Jan 22 - May 16 2025
This is a late start class. Classes will meet in-person. Remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 5880 of MEDIA44
Media Criticism -- : Jan 22 - May 16 2025
This is a late start class starting 1/22. Some content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 6499 of MEDIA4
Introduction to Mass Communication -- : Jan 21 - May 16 2025
This is a late start class. Mandatory in-person meetings will take place on the day and time listed. Remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Fall 2024

Section 0404 of MEDIA4
Introduction to Mass Communication -- : Sep 03 - Dec 13 2024
This is a late start class. All remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 0582 of MEDIA6
Media, Culture, and Identity -- : Sep 04 - Dec 13 2024
This is a late start class. Remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 1466 of MEDIA6
Media, Culture, and Identity -- : Sep 03 - Dec 13 2024
This is a late start class. Remaining content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 1662 of MEDIA4
Introduction to Mass Communication -- : Sep 03 - Dec 13 2024
This is a late start class. All content will be delivered asynchronously.

Section 3720 of MEDIA10
Film Appreciation -- : Sep 04 - Dec 13 2024
This late start course has mandatory in-person meetings in the Petaluma campus theatre, Carole L. Ellis Auditorium, on the day and time listed. This class will run concurrent with the Petaluma Cinema Series which holds screenings in the same venue. Students enrolling in this section are expected to purchase a CubCard Premium ($15) in lieu of a course fee. All students are welcome to enroll in this class; and this section will have extra support from the Lanzamientoinitiative.

No office hours

Ph.D. in Communication - University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 2013.

  • Emphases:  Digital media, game studies, rhetoric, and critical cultural studies

M.A. in Communication Studies - Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2009

  • Emphases: Media studies and rhetoric

B.A. in Speech Communication - 2006, Fort Collins, CO, 2006

  • Emphases: Media studies and rhetoric
Academic Experience

Previous Courses Taught

Visiting Associate Professor of Communication Studies, 2019-2020

  • Department of Communication Studies, San Jose State University
    • Communication Graduate Program
      • COMM 269R, Seminar in Contemporary Communication
    • Communication Program
      • COMM 101C, Theorizing Communication
      • COMM 113P, Games in Everyday Life
      • COMM 157SL, Community Action/Community Service
      • COMM 169I, The Media: Response and Criticism
Associate Professor of Communication Studies, 2013-2019                                                                                   
  • Department of Communication, Northern Kentucky University
    • Communication Graduate Program Courses Taught
      • COM 500, Introduction to Graduate Studies
      • COM 560, Rhetorical Criticism
      • COM 602, Qualitative Methods 
      • COM 671, Media Criticism
    • Communication Program
      • CMST 410, Rhetorical Theory and Criticism: Visual Rhetoric
      • CMST 430, Communication Theory
    • Electronic Media Broadcasting Program
      • EMB 100, Media Literacy
      • EMB 105, Race, Gender and the Media
      • EMB 435, Monsters in America Film Genre
      • EMB 435, Science-Fiction Film Genre
      • EMB 435, Mystery-Thriller Film Genre
    • Media Informatics Program
      • MIN 394, Board Game Design

Graduate Teaching Assistant, 2009-2013

  • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
    • C&J 101 (online), Introduction to Communication
    • C&J 101, Introduction to Communication
    • C&J 130, Public Speaking
    • C&J 258, Non-Verbal Communication
    • C&J 268, Media Theory
    • C&J 465, Media History
    • C&J 469, Multiculturalism, Gender and Media
Work and Consulting Experience

Consulting

  • Gamification Consulting with Cintrifuse, Cincinnati, Oh

Design

Creative Lead, I now pronounce you…, Project Start 2018

  • Card game design to address the genealogy of marriage.

Creative Lead, Red-Line, Project Start 2019

  • Board game designed project focusing on the structures of public, private and charter school systems.

Creative Lead, Refugee, Project Start 2019

  • Collaborative student game designed to address the historical and national difficulties of the immigration and refugee application processes.
Professional Areas of Interest

Media Studies

  • Digital communities, digital identity, counterculture, fandom, convergence culture, gamer theory, ludology, design of interactivity and game mechanics, narratology, Gamification, media theory, media history, film and cinema, East Asian popular culture, and new media.

Rhetoric and Communication Studies

  • Procedural rhetoric, rhetorical criticism, space and place rhetoric, invitational rhetoric, communication theory, semiotics, symbolic interaction, cultural studies, discourse, class, identity construction, gender, international studies, and language & behavior.
Professional Involvement and Community Service

Reviewer

  • Syllabus Journal
  • International Communication Association Game Studies Division
  • Culture, Theory and Critique journal
  • National Communication Association Mass Communication, Applied Communication and Game Studies Division
Presentations and Publications

Publications

Books (refereed)

  1. Pulos, A. & Lee, S. A. (Eds.). (2016). Transnational contexts of culture, gender, class and colonialism in play: Video games in East Asia. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
  2. Lee, S. A. & Pulos, A. (Eds.). (2016). Transnational contexts of development history, sociality, and society of play: Video games in East Asia. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.  

Books (invited)

  1. Pulos, A., Cole, K. & Upton, S. (2016). Instructor manual for Theories of communication by K. Foss, S. Littlejohn & J. Oetzel. Long Grove, IL: Waveland.
  2. Cole, K. & Pulos, A. (2012). Instructor manual for Gender Stories: Negotiating identity in a binary world by S. K. Foss, M. E. Domenico. & K. A. Foss. Long Grove, IL: Waveland.

Articles (refereed)

  1. Pulos, A. (Accepted for publication). Creating the Mystery-thriller to teach cinema studies and genre analysis. Syllabus Journal.
  2. Pulos, A. (2019). Experiential mediums: Understanding medium theory through pedagogical applications. Communication Teacher.
  3. Goldberg, A. M., Pulos, A. & Lee, S. A. (2015). Male action vs. female inaction: Cultural implications of gender performance in Japanese video games. Asian Communication Research, 12(2), 32-53.
  4. Milstein, T. & Pulos, A. (2015). Culture jam pedagogy and practice: Relocating culture by staying on one’s toes. Communication, Culture & Critique, 8(3), pp. 395-413.
  5. Pulos, A. (2013). Confronting heteronormativity in online games: A critical discourse analysis of LGBTQ sexuality in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture: A Journal of Interactive Media, 8(2), pp. 77-97.

Articles (invited)

  1. Pulos, A., & Cole, K. (2019). [Review of the game The Mind]. Popular Culture Studies Journal, 7(1), p. 224-226.
  2. Pulos, A. (2010). [Review of the film Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom]. Journal of GLBT family studies, 6(1), pp. 101-104.

Book Chapters (refereed)

  1. Pulos, A. (forthcoming, Spring 2020). Cultivating play: Analyzing the neoliberal sub(ob)jects in FarmVille 2. In G. Hubbell (Ed.), What is a Game: Essays on the nature of video games. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
  2. Pulos, A, & Mayer, B. (2019). Freedom: The Underground Railroad. In K. Schrier (Ed), Learning, education & games: 100 games to use in the classroom & beyond (vol. 3). Pittsburgh, PA: ETC Press.
  3. Cole, K. & Pulos, A. (2019). Addiction and the apocalypse: The pathology of Pokémon Go. In J. Henthorn, A. Kulak, K. Purzycki, & S. Vie (Eds.), Not just play: Essays on motivations and impacts of Pokémon GO. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press.
  4. Cole, K, & Pulos, A. (2018). Pinned down by profit: Leadership and the branded body in Total Divas. In Murray, C. R. (Ed.), Leadership through the lens: Interrogating practice, presentation and power (pp. 85-100). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
  5. Lee, S. A. & Pulos, A.  (2016). Introduction: Histories and industries. In S. A. Lee & A. Pulos (Eds.), Transnational contexts of development history, sociality, and society of play: Video games in East Asia (pp. 1-9). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan
  6. Pulos, A. & S. A. Lee. (2016). Introduction: Developing critical contexts of gameplay. In A. Pulos & S. A. Lee (Eds.), Transnational contexts of culture, gender, class and colonialism in play: Video games in East Asia (pp. 1-15). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
  7. Goldberg, A. M., Lee, S. A. & Pulos, A. (2016). It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this (new technology): Nintendo’s impact on the technological landscape of the video gaming industry. In S. A. Lee & A. Pulos (Eds.), Transnational contexts of development history, sociality, and society of play: Video games in East Asia (pp. 65-91). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan

Presentations

Competitive Conference Paper Presentations

  1. Pulos, A. (2020, February). Using social justice games to agitate the status quo: Teaching and critiquing ideology and hegemony through critical games. Western States Communication Association Convention, Denver, CO.
  2. Pulos, A. (2019, August). I now pronounce you...: Utilizing critical gameplay to question the institution of marriage. Foundations of Digital Games: Tabletop Games Workshop, San Luis Obispo, CA
  3. Pulos, A. (2016, February). Playing as a neoliberal farmer: An analysis of the design structures and meaningful objects in of FarmVille 2.  Western States Communication Association Convention, San Diego, CA.
  4. Pulos, A. (2015, November). Constructing a procedural ideograph: An analysis of ideographs and status bars in Fallout: New Vegas and Smurfs’ Village. National Communication Association Convention, Las Vegas, NV.
  5. Milstein, T., & Pulos, A. (2014, November). Dance of the culture jam: Relocating transformative communication through the pedagogy of “Where the Hell is Matt?” National Communication Association Convention, Chicago, IL.
  6. Pulos, A. (2012, November). The 2012 Mayan prophesy: Framing American needs through disaster. National Communication Association Convention, Orlando, FL. Top Student Paper, Mass Communication Division.
  7. Pulos, A., & Cole, K. (2012, May). The beginning of the end: Learning to live through apocalyptic film genre. International Communication Association Convention, Phoenix, AZ.
  8. Pulos, A., Kilbride, S., & Brandon, V. (2012, February). Negotiating negation: Constructing ideologies from the silenced voices in the case of Tyler Clementi. Western States Communication Association Convention, Albuquerque, NM.
  9. Pulos, A., & Upton, S. (2011, November). Imagining the graphic: Solutions to femicide within a dream space. National Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, LA.
  10. Pulos, A. (2011, March). Living in the virtual: A new medium model. Western States Communication Association Convention, Monterey, CA.
  11. Pulos, A. (2010, November). Social justice and the digital: A critical discourse analysis of GLBT sexuality in World of Warcraft. National Communication Association Convention, San Francisco, CA. Top Paper Panel, GLBTQ Studies Division.
  12. Pulos, A. (2010, March). Connecting to the story: Understanding how identity is communicated through a narrative analysis of Halo. Western States Communication Association Convention, Anchorage, AK.
  13. Pulos, A. (2009, February). Sin City: A study in pleasure and self-perception. Western States Communication Association Convention, Mesa, AZ.

Competitive Conference Panel Presentations

  1. Pulos A. (2018, November). Using Snake Oil to teach the elaboration likelihood model. National Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
  2. Pulos A. (2018, May). Dominant Voices in the margins? Pedagogical strategies for resisting discourses of supremacy. International Communication Association Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.
  3. Pulos, A. (2017, February). Augmented history: consuming digital memory through Pokémon Go. Western States Communication Association Convention, Salt Lake City, UT.
  4. Pulos, A. (2019). I now pronounce you…: Utilizing critical gameplay to question the institution of marriage. Proceedings from FDG 2019: 2nd Workshop on Tabletop games. San Luis Obispo, CA.
  5. Pulos, A. (2017, March). More than moving pieces: Board games as pedagogy. Central States Communication Association, Minneapolis, MN.
  6. Cole, K. & Pulos, A. (2016, February). Pinned down by profit: Leadership and the branded body in Total Divas. Western States Communication Association Convention, San Diego, CA.
  7. Pulos, A. (2014, February). Transferring lived experiences as adults, kids and “kidaults”: Considering, complicating, and critiquing nerd culture. Western States Communication Association Convention, Anaheim, CA.
  8. Pulos, A. (2013, November). Gaming: a mature mass medium. National Communication Association Convention, Washington D.C.
  9. Pulos, A. (2013, November). Beyond console & tabletop: Connecting games with other forms of mass media. National Communication Association Convention, Washington D.C.
  10. Pulos, A. (2012, February). Connecting disparate students together: Community building in online classes. Western States Communication Association Convention, Albuquerque, NM.
  11. Pulos, A. (2011, November). Just a bunch of whiners: Voice, graduate students, and work-life balance questions. National Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, LA.
  12. Pulos, A. (2011, November). Feminist voices informing masculine lives. National Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, LA.
  13. Pulos, A. (2011, March). Consumers or creations?: Multiple perspectives on the relationship between communities and their media texts. Western States Communication Association Convention, Monterey, CA.
Honors and Awards

Awards, Honors, & Grants

  • College of Health Innovations game development grant, $10,000                                        2019
    • Northern Kentucky University
  • Active Scholar, course release                                                                 Fall 2017, 2018, & 2019
    • Department of Communication, Northern Kentucky University
  • Outstanding Student mentor                                                                                                   2016
    • Office of Student Affairs, Northern Kentucky University
  • Excellence in Teaching and Instruction award nominee                                               2015-2016
    • Department of Communication, Northern Kentucky University
  • Informatics interdisciplinary teaching grant, $5,000                                                              2015
    • College of Informatics, Northern Kentucky University
  • Recognized for positive influence on first-year students                                              2013-2014
    • University Connect and Persist, Northern Kentucky University
  • Graduate Student Mentor of the Year                                                                           2012-2013
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Susan-Deese Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year award                   2012-2013
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Everett Rogers Doctoral Research Scholar award                                                                 2012
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Top Student Paper award                                                                                                       2012
    • Mass Communication Division, National Communication Association, Orlando, FL
  • Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year award                                        2011-2012
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Susan-Deese Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year award nomination 2011-2012
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Susan-Deese Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year award nomination 2010-2011
    • Department of Communication and Journalism, University of New Mexico
  • Top Paper Panel award                                                                                                              2010
    • GLBTQ Division ,National Communication Association, San Francisco, CA