معرفی
Emily C. Friedman is an Associate Professor of English at Auburn University in the College of Liberal Arts, specializing in British literature, book history, and game narratives. Trained as a book historian, narratologist, and digital humanist, she examines cultural production outside commercial mass media from the eighteenth century to contemporary digital practices.
Her research interests include long 18th-century British literature, adaptation studies, material culture, game studies, gender studies, and the history of the book. She is particularly recognized as a senior scholar and public intellectual in the emerging field of 'Actual Play'—where roleplaying games are performed for audiences. Her work bridges historical manuscript culture with contemporary digital media practices.
Dr. Friedman's publications span academic journals, public-facing venues like the Los Angeles Review of Books and Polygon, and multiple book projects. Her current research focuses on Actual Play as a new media form, with two book projects in progress: a field-defining history of Actual Play online and a critical companion to Dimension 20. She also directs 18thConnect.org, a peer-reviewing venue for digital work in 18th-century studies.
Her scholarly work demonstrates consistent innovation in connecting historical manuscript practices with contemporary digital media, particularly in how audiences engage with narrative across centuries. She has made significant contributions to understanding how non-commercial creative practices—from 18th-century manuscript fiction to modern Actual Play—create community and meaning.
Dr. Friedman is an award-winning teacher who has developed courses on how games tell stories, bridging her expertise in historical narrative forms with contemporary media. She has been featured in major media outlets including CNBC for her expertise on Dungeons & Dragons and game studies, and she actively contributes to public discourse through Patreon, YouTube, and social media platforms.
