Laura Arnott

PhD: “The Transcultural Reception of Japanese Role-Playing Games: Cultural Odour, Embodied Play and Self-Reflexive Methods.”

Summary: Examining how anglophone players engage with "Japaneseness" in JRPGs, focusing on how “cultural elements” within these games influence players' identities and experiences of transculturality. Through a reception study and self-reflective analysis of gameplay, the research reveals how players navigate and internalise cultural differences, shaping their understanding of themselves and other cultures in a global gaming context.

Other research interests:

• Japanese Otome games, Japanese pixel horror
• Queer games and gaming
• Transcultural gaming
• Media convergence: boundaries between film, television and games
• Performance studies in gaming
• Gaming fandom and reception studies

Papers presented:

• "Transcultural Affect in Gaming: Hybrid Identities and Cultural Otherness," Video Game Cultures conference, Birmingham City University, UK, 14 September 2024.
• "The performance of queer identities in the gameplay of Final Fantasy VII (1997) and Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)", Video Game Cultures conference, University of Klagenfurt, Austria, 8 September 2023.
• "The “Cinematic” video game: intersections between film and digital game theory", No Culture is ‘Low’ Culture conference, Bangor University, UK, 16 April 2019.

President's Doctoral Scholar Award (2019)

Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively

Outstanding Performance in MA Film Studies (2018)

Prize: Student with highest grade average

Lecturer and Seminar Leader for “Screen, Culture and Society” (Drama, UG 2^nd Year)

Seminar Leader for “Introduction to World Cinemas” (School of Arts, Languages & Culture (SALC), UG 1^st Year)

Seminar Leader for “Researching in the Digital Age II” (Art History and Visual studies, UG 1^st Year)