Matthew Spokes

Dr Matthew Spokes is an Associate Professor and Dean for the Social Sciences at York St John University's School of Humanities. His research focuses on interactive entertainment, death/mortality studies, and spatial sociology. He co-directs the investigate.games research group and leads the Aesthetica Games Lab for data collection.

Education: BA in Politics & Sociology (UEA 2005), MA in Conflict Governance (York 2007), PhD in Sociology (York 2010). Professional affiliations include Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research Interests
- Video game aesthetics and ethics
- Digital representations of death and mortality
- Spatial theory in virtual environments
- Impact of gaming on mental health and social interaction

Recent Work Trends
Recent articles examine gaming's role in post-pandemic coping mechanisms, rural retreatism in open-world games, and dialogic models for educational gaming. His 2020 book Gaming and the Virtual Sublime explores existential themes in digital media.

• Awards: HE Academy Fellowship

Advising & Grants
Supervises PhD students and mentors staff researchers. Current projects include Screen Industries Growth Network-funded studies on gaming pedagogy and virtual space analysis.

Labs/Teams: investigate.games research group, Aesthetica Games Lab collaboration.