Steven Gotzler

Lab

01

DLC Lab

The DLC Lab logo: DLC LAB in white outlined capitals over the words Digital Literacy and Communications, on Carolina blue with cross-hatched corners

Director · 2026–

Digital Literacy and Communications Lab

The lab supports research, teaching, and public work across the digital humanities and critical game studies.

Role
Director (2026–), Associate Director (2023–26)
Visit
dlclab.unc.edu
The Greenlaw Gameroom logo, a round pixel-art badge with the Old Well, a ram, and a game controller

Director · 2026–

Critical Game Studies Program

The program offers a critical perspective on games and culture, and an environment for exploring alternate play practices that embrace difference. It also manages the Greenlaw Gameroom.

Role
Director (2026–)
Visit
dlclab.unc.edu/gaming-program

2026–

Local Language Models for the Humanities

Developing AI workflows that run locally, on open-source models, for humanities research and teaching.

With
the AI Studio at Davis Library, UNC
02

Carolina Seminar

A grid of eight posters for Carolina Seminar sessions, including talks on queergaming, design traces, GPU shaders, gender in the magic mirror, and inclusive tabletop design

Primary Convener · 2023–

Carolina Seminar in Critical Game Studies

The seminar builds community across disciplines, hosting work in progress by leading scholars, faculty conveners, and graduate students, with an emphasis on exploring design as a research method.

With
UNC, Duke, King's College London
show eventshide events
  1. Apr 17, 2026Take a Good Long Look: Gender in the Magic MirrorAntonia DiNardo · works-in-progress
  2. Mar 11, 2026Recursivity, Repetition, and Race: Building a Methodology for Reading Race in Video GamesDr. Austin Anderson · invited lecture
  3. Feb 27, 2026Materializing Design Traces // Tracing Design MaterialsDr. Rilla Khaled · invited lecture
  4. Feb 13, 2026“You Were Expected”: Encountering Algorithmic Rememory in The Outlast TrialsZayla Crocker · works-in-progress
  5. Nov 13, 2025Playing to Learn, Learning to Teach: Video Games and the Humanities ClassroomDr. Gaspard Pelurson · works-in-progress
  6. Oct 9, 2025Annotated Archives: Developing Game Studies Research Tools and PracticesD.A. Hall · works-in-progress
  7. Apr 23, 2025Games Life WritingDr. Rob Gallagher · methods workshop
  8. Apr 22, 2025Self-Narrating PlayDr. Rob Gallagher · invited lecture
  9. Mar 21, 2025Auto-Ethnography and Gaming While AsianDr. Edmond Y. Chang · methods workshop
  10. Mar 20, 2025Queergaming, Close Playing, and Gaming FuturesDr. Edmond Y. Chang · invited lecture
  11. Mar 4, 2025GPU Shaders as Metaphors for, and Materializers of, ExperienceDr. Kelsey Brod · works-in-progress
  12. Nov 19, 2024Gamification and Value CaptureDr. Feng Zhu · works-in-progress
  13. Oct 8, 2024Materiality and Analog PlayDr. Steven Gotzler · works-in-progress
  14. Sep 30, 2024Playful Pedagogies: Teaching with GamesDr. Michelle Robinson, Dr. Jennifer Gates-Foster, Dr. Kym Weed, D.A. Hall, Antonia DiNardo · roundtable
  15. Apr 11, 2024Digital Ethnography for Game Studies ResearchDr. Kishonna Gray · methods workshop
  16. Apr 10, 2024Augmenting Reality: Black Praxis in Digital GamingDr. Kishonna Gray · invited lecture
  17. Apr 4, 2024Intersectional Tech: Black Users in Digital GamingD.A. Hall · discussion session
  18. Mar 7, 2024Critical Design and Development RealityErnesto Escobar · design workshop
  19. Nov 28, 2023Ascesis, Shugyo, and Ethical Self-Cultivation: Gaming as Martial Art?Dr. Feng Zhu and Dr. Gaspard Pelurson · discussion session
  20. Oct 24, 2023Introduction to Unity EngineJoyce Rudinsky and Doug Stark · design workshop
  21. Sep 26, 2023Transdisciplinary MethodsDr. Steven Gotzler and Stephanie Kinzinger · discussion session
  22. Feb 20, 2023Inclusive Design Practices in Tabletop GamingOmari Akil · invited lecture + play session