Biography

Phillip Penix-Tadsen is a specialist in contemporary Latin American cultural studies and regional game studies, with research focused on the intersections between politics, economics, digital media and visual culture throughout Latin America and the global south today. He earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University and is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Delaware, where he regularly teaches courses on Latin American cultural studies and game studies. He is also the co-founder of UD's academic program in Game Studies and eSports.

Prof. Penix-Tadsen is the author of Cultural Code: Vi​​​deo Games and Latin America (MIT Press, 2016) and editor of the anthology Video Games and the Global South (ETC Press, 2019). Both books are examples of cultural ludology, an approach he has helped pioneer as a way of analyzing video games as a unique medium—attending to the myriad ways culture is incorporated into game design and mechanics—while at the same time considering the impact of the cultural environment in which games are created, developed, manufactured, purchased, played and otherwise put to use.

He has organized panels for conferences including Digital Games Research Association, Society for Cinema and Media Studies and Latin American Studies Association, and has given invited lectures at institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, University of Kentucky, Davidson College, Villanova University, the National University of San Marcos (Peru) and the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico).

Prof. Penix-Tadsen has published work in journals including Letras Hispanas, Latin American Research Review and Feminist Media Histories. He is also a translator of scholarly research on contemporary Latin American art, artists and cultural institutions, and has published translations with BOMB Magazine, NYArts Magazine, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Americas Society, Hunter College and Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.​

Degrees

• Ph.D., Spanish, Columbia University
• M.A., Hispanic Studies, University of Pennsylvania
• B.A., Spanish and Women’s Studies, Ohio Wesleyan University