Yoel Villahermosa Serrano

Biography

​Hi, I’m Yoel Villahermosa Serrano. My research spans a wide range of topics related to video games, with a focus on understanding their diverse socio-cultural, economic, and educational impacts. As both a game researcher and play researcher, I specialize in Spanish video game studies and Spanish cultural studies, investigating how politics, economics, digital media, and visual culture shape and interact within these areas. I also explore the educational potential of video games and how they can be integrated into classrooms to foster critical thinking and cultural awareness. My work includes publications on how video games can be used in Spanish classrooms to raise awareness of nonheteronormative sexualities and genders.

In addition to my research, I’ve organized and presented at a variety of academic conferences, including MLA, the Popular Culture Association, Games for Change, the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference and the Games Canon & Game History Conference. I’ve also been invited to give talks at institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Kentucky, the University of West Virginia, and the University of North Georgia. My work has been published in leading journals, including Game Studies and Hispania.

Degrees

• ​Ph.D. in Spanish, University of Texas at Austin (ABD, expected Spring 2025)
• M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Literature and Culture, University of Texas at Austin (2021)
• M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Literature and Culture, West Virginia University (2016)
• M.A. in Secondary Teacher Training, Vocational Training, and Languages, UNED, Spain (2014)
• B.A. in English (Filología Inglesa), University of Murcia, Spain (2013)