Dr. Douglas Thomas

Biography

Douglas Thomas is an Associate Professor at the USC Iovine Young Academy and USC Annenberg. His research focuses on the intersection of technology and culture, particularly in subcultures, education, learning, innovation, and creativity. Over the past decades, Thomas has authored and edited multiple books that cover topics including computer hackers, cybercrime, computer viruses, video game culture, and the digital revolution in education. In 2006, he founded the journal Games & Culture, which is dedicated to the academic study of video game culture. He organized a major video game conference in Tokyo, which helped launch the new field of game studies. Thomas has been deeply invested in understanding the relationship between games and learning, leading to a collaboration with John Seely Brown that resulted in the concept of “gamer disposition,” which was recognized as one of Harvard Business Review’s “Breakthrough Ideas.” His publication, New Culture Learning, published in 2011, has been translated into multiple languages and read worldwide. Thomas has been a keynote speaker at numerous educational conferences across the United States, Asia, and Europe. He has consulted for governments in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore on educational reform, contributing to curriculum development for various school systems. His recent project examines the relationship between technology and corporeality from World War II to the present.

Research Interests