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Akil Fletcher is an anthropologist whose research intersects the fields of anthropology, African American studies, and game studies. He earned a B.A. in Anthropology from City College of New York and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. His research investigates how Black individuals create identity and community through alternative forms of play in online gaming spaces. His dissertation, "Playing Color: Exploration of Black Gaming Communities Practices," examines how online Black communities utilize digital platforms to form selfhood and navigate relationships in gaming spaces, often circumventing racism and anti-Blackness found in games like Final Fantasy XIV and communication platforms like Discord. At Princeton, Fletcher plans to advance his work by developing a book project that engages with how Black gamers use gaming technologies to imagine new worlds and interact with pre-established game worlds. His work on “Black worlding” is supported by the project exploring the impacts of virtual reality technology on the experiences of Black players. Fletcher's research has been funded by multiple organizations, and he has received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and the UCI President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship. In Fall 2023, he is teaching the course “Gaming Blackness: Anthropology of Video Games and Race,” which focuses on exploring the intersection of race and gameplay through an anthropological lens.
GRE scores are not accepted. Ph.D. is the primary degree; students are not required to hold an M.S.E. prior to admission.