Jey Russell

Jey Russel (they/them) is a PhD candidate at the School of English and Theatre Studies at the University of Guelph. Jey's research focuses on the way that otome visual novels interact with players in order to create queer identities and queer spaces. This research brings together video game studies, cultural studies, queer studies, feminist studies, and digital media studies, combining them with the methodological approaches of close reading, literary analysis, and personal experience. Jey also plans to create an otome visual novel as part of their research. Jey's secondary field of research is focused on queer Victorian studies. 

Jey's research was inspired by their love for otome games and their own experience as an asexual and aromantic ganer. They were inspired to combine their hobby with academia through their interaction the the Games Institute at the University of Waterloo during their Bachelor's and Master's degrees.