APLEITH

Employment

Education

Funding

• FW-HTF-R: Collaborative Research: Virtual Meeting Support for Enhanced Well-Being and Equity for Game Developers [$1,599,851]

• New Faculty Incentive Program [$2,000]
• OER Adoption, Adaptation, and Implementation Incentive Program [$4,900]

Scholarship

• Leith, A. P., & Gheen, E. (2022). Twitch in the time of quarantine: The role of engagement in needs fulfillment. Psychology of Popular Media, 11(3), 275-280. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000372
• Foxman, M., Beyea, D., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A., Chen, V. H. H., & Klebig, B. (2022). Beyond genre: Classifying virtual reality experiences. IEEE Transactions on Games, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.1109/TG.2021.3119521
• Leith, A. P. (2021). Parasocial cues: The ubiquity of parasocial relationships on Twitch. Communication Monographs, 88, 111-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2020.1868544
• Ratan, R., Fordham, J., Leith, A. P. & Williams, D. (2019). Women keep it real: Avatar gender choice in League of Legends. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22, 254-257. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2018.0302
• DeGroot, J. M., & Leith, A. P. (2018). R.I.P. Kutner: Parasocial grief following the death of a television character. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 77, 199-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222815600450
• Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A., & Wohn, D. Y. (2016). The (de)evolution of evolution games: Analyzing the accuracy of evolution depiction in video games. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 25, 655-664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-016-9620-x

• Foxman, M., Ratan, R., Bouzek, D., & Leith, A. P. (2023). Virtually limited: Boundaries of play in virtual reality production. Published in DiGRA 2023 Extended Abstract Proceedings. Seville, Spain.
• Leith, A. P., Foxman, M., Onuche, M., Ratan, R., & Lim, C. (2023). Mixed feelings and realities: Joyful to nauseating sentiments about VR on Twitter. Published in DiGRA 2023 Extended Abstract Proceedings. Seville, Spain.
• Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Beyea, D., Klebig, B., Chen, V. H. H., & Ratan, R. (2020). Virtual reality genres: Comparing preferences in immersive experiences and games. In CHI PLAY '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play (pp. 237-241). ACM Digital Library. https://doi.org/10.1145/3383668.3419881
• Leith, A. P. (2019). Playing games for others: Constructing a gameplay livestreaming taxonomy. In R. Ratan, B. Winn, & E. LaPensée (Eds.), Proceedings of Meaningful Play 2018 (pp. 372-379). ETC Press. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/9995969

• Fordham, J., Leith, A. P., & Ratan. R. A. (2017). League of Legends: Summoning a league of their own. In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 102-104). London: Rowan & Littlefield.
• Leith, A. P., & Fordham, J. (2017). Assassin’s Creed: Leap of faith through historiophoty In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 11-12). London: Rowan & Littlefield.
• Leith, A. P., & Ratan, R. A. (2017). Super Smash Bros.: Fight with the one that brung ya. In J. Banks, R. Mejia, & A. Adams (Eds.), 100 greatest video game franchises (pp. 178-180). London: Rowan & Littlefield.

• Foxman, M., Leith, A.P., Ratan, R., & Bouzek, D. (2023, May). Playfully Virtual: Finding Authentic Communication in Videoconferencing and Online Meetings. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.
• Leith, A.P., Foxman, M., Onuche, M., & Bouzek, D. (2023, May). Diffusion of gratification: The reception of VR as a modality for remote work and meetings. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.
• Leith, A.P., Foxman, M., Ratan, R., & Lim, C. (2023, May). Feelings for meetings: A sentiment analysis of videoconferencing platforms a year apart. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 73rd Annual Conference. Toronto, ON.
• Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Sulzdorf-Liszkiewicz, A., Beyea, D., Klebig, B., Graciano, L., Bouzek, D., & Ratan, R. A. (2022, October). Playing at work: Finding and designing play into virtual meetings. Paper presented at the 2022 International Conference on Meaningful Play. East Lansing, MI.
• Foxman, M., Beyea, D. G., Leith, A. P., Ratan, R. A. Chen, V. H. H., & Klebig, B. (2021, May). Hardly just hardware: Understanding games and genres in virtual reality experiences. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 71st Annual Conference. Virtual.
• Foxman, M., Leith, A. P., Beyea D., Klebig, B., Chen V. H. H., & Ratan, R. (2020, November). Virtual reality genres: Comparing preferences in immersive experiences and games. Paper Presented at CHI Play ’20. Virtual.
• Leith, A. P. (2020, May). When Watching Isn’t Enough: Human Agents and their Influence of Gameplay and Gamespace through Synchronous Chat. Paper presented at the International Communication Association 70th Annual Conference. Gold Coast, AUS.
• Leith, A. P. (2019, August). The affective messaging of gameplay livestream viewers. Paper presented at the 2019 Digital Games and Research Association Conference. Kyoto, Japan.
• Leith, A. P. (2018, October). Giving you your space: Examining gamespace expandability. Paper presented at the 2018 International Academic Conference on Meaningful Play. East Lansing, MI.
• Leith, A. P. (2015, November). Busking on a digital pitch: Investigating Internet-based gameplay broadcasting. Paper presented at the National Communication Association 101st Annual Convention. Las Vegas, NV.
• Leith, A. P. (2015, November). Understanding the implications of uses and gratifications in gameplay viewing. Paper presented at the National Communication Association 101st Annual Convention. Las Vegas, NV.
• Boehmer, J. H., & Leith, A. P. (2015, March). Tweeting the World Cup: Soccer teams’ use of dialogic communication during the 2014 World Cup. Paper presented at The Eighth Summit on Communication and Sport. Charlotte, NC.
• Leith, A. P. (2014, November). Learning to play: Academic impacts of digital gameplay among disadvantaged African American students. Paper presented at the National Communication Association 100th Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.
• Huang, T. K., Cotton, S. R., & Leith, A. P. (2014, May). The impact of emotional costs on students’ IT use and academic performance in the context of computer integration. Paper presented at the Digital Divide Preconference of the International Communication Association 64th Annual Conference. Seattle, WA.
• Leith, A. P. (2013, June). A more accessible celebrity: A case for parasocial interactions with YouTube personalities and communities. Paper presented at International Association of Media and Communication Research 2013 Conference. Dublin, Ireland.

Skills

DATA SCIENCE

MULTIMEDIA DESIGN

WEB DESIGN

PRESENTLY LEARNING