The fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have long been the bastions of the white male elite. Recently, academia has begun to recognize gender and ethnic disparities. In an effort to expand the recruitment pool for these STEM fields in college, various efforts have been employed nationally at the secondary level. In California, the latest of these efforts is referred to as Linked Learning, a pedagogy that combines college preparation with career preparation. The current study is investigating the connection between what has been referred to in current scholarship as "Geeking Out" with higher academic performance. The phenomenon of “Geeking Out” includes a variety of non-school related activities that range from participating in robotics competitions to a simple game of Dungeons & Dragons. The current project investigates the relationship between long term success in STEM fields and current informal behaviors of secondary students. This particular circumstance where Linked Learning happens to combine with "Geeking Out" is successful due to the associated inclusionary environment. Methods included a yearlong ethnographic study of the Center for Advanced Research and Technology, a Central Valley school with a diverse student body. Through participant observation and interviews, the main goal of this research is to examine the circumstances that influence the effectiveness found in the environment of the Center for Advanced Research and Technology.

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This study explores the representation of nerds and geeks in popular broadcast television programs over the course of the past twenty years. A content analysis of the five most popular scripted broadcast television programs for each year was conducted in order to assess the frequency of nerd characters, as well as the social competence, physical attractiveness, and demographic information of each such character. In addition, a supplemental survey design study was employed in order to collect public opinion data regarding perceptions of nerds in general and on television. The results of these studies indicated that while the per-year frequency of nerd portrayals has not varied significantly, nerds have been consistently portrayed as overwhelmingly white and male. Nerd characters in popular television programs have grown more physically attractive over the past twenty years. Furthermore, while technological or computer-related expertise remain significant predictors for the identification of television characters as nerds by audience members, the same is true for unattractiveness and low social competence. Considered through the theoretical framework provided by past mass media scholars, these findings suggest that nerds represent a group of individuals consistently portrayed as possessing technical aptitudes which are highly desirable in the current social context, but that such roles are portrayed as accessible only to white males.

¿Qué significa hacer videojuegos "como en Perú”? ¿Significa crear mecánicas de juegos distintas? ¿plantear procesos? ¿Representar nuestras historias? Este trabajo analiza la mirada e inquietudes de los desarrolladores de videojuegos de Perú, un territorio considerado como emergente en la industria. Nos concentramos en las interacciones sociales en las que se forjan los criterios estéticos de los videojuegos peruanos. Desde la etnografía, identificamos el rol y la importancia que tiene la localidad, las comunidades online y los recursos tecnológicos disponibles, tanto en el diseño como en el desarrollo de un videojuego. Así, conocer flujos de trabajo y la identidad profesional de estos desarrolladores, nos pueden acercarnos a la construcción visual, el diseño e historias que caracterizan a un videojuego desarrollado en Perú. Para muchos jóvenes los videojuegos representan la entrada a mundos sociales donde pueden conectarse con personas e identificarse con diversos grupos. Alrededor de la actividad del “play” existe un medio intelectual paralelo donde sus participantes no solo consumen medios sino, crean una producción cultural bastante rica. Consecuencia de esto es que encontramos streams, foros, blogs y comunidades online dedicadas a juegos. Es decir, un medio intelectual con ambiente propicio para la formación de las primeras comunidades de desarrolladores en los territorios emergentes. Y con producción cultural que se convierte en un referente bastante marcado en los posteriores juegos desarrollados. Los desarrolladores habitan diversos mundos sociales a la vez, tanto como jugadores como profesionales. Las dinámicas de poder en estos grupos y prácticas tienen influencia sobre sus videojuegos. Los videojuegos peruanos independientes tienen características familiares, si bien no se tratan de reskins de juegos, usualmente remezclan mecánicas de juegos ya existentes. La mayoría de desarrolladores peruanos usan herramientas abiertas. El estilo de arte privilegia el ahorro de recursos y tiene como fuerte influencia estilos usuales dentro de la cultura geek. / What does it mean to make videogames “as in Peru?” Does it mean creating different game mechanics? To implement new processes, to represent our stories? This work analyzes the look and concerns of the video game developers of Peru, a territory considered as emerging in the industry. We focus on the social interactions in which the aesthetic criteria of Peruvian videogames are forged. From ethnography, we identify the role and importance of the locality, the online communities and the available technological resources, both in the design and in the development of a videogame. Thus, knowing the workflows and the professional identity of these developers, can bring us closer to understand the visual construction, design and stories that characterize a video game developed in Peru. For many young people, video games represent the entrance to social worlds where they can connect with people and identify with different groups. Around the activity of “play” there is a parallel intellectual environment where its participants not only consume media but also create a rich cultural production. Consequence of this is that we find streams, forums, blogs and online communities devoted to games. An intellectual medium that enables an advantageous climate for the formation of game developer communities in the emerging territories. And with that also comes cultural production that turns into a benchmark in the subsequent games will be developed in the territory. The developers inhabit diverse social worlds both as players and professionals. The dynamics of power in these groups and practices influence their videogames. Independent Peruvian video games have familiar characteristics, although they are not game reskins, they usually remix existing game mechanics. Most Peruvian developers use open tools. The style of art privileges the saving of resources and has as strong influence usual styles within the geek culture.

Cette étude porte sur la « culture geek » et son émergence en tant que sous-culture et identité culturelle revendiquée en France depuis le milieu des années 2000. En effet, ce mouvement d’abord américain a fait une entrée remarquée dans l’espace public qui incite à s’interroger sur sa réalité sociologique. Les geeks sont abordés ici comme fans de mondes imaginaires fantastiques (science-fiction, fantasy…), passionnés de nouvelles technologies et en tant que public premier et fondateur du processus de convergence culturelle théorisé par Henry Jenkins. La montée en visibilité du phénomène geek est ainsi liée dans cette étude à celle de pratiques médiatiques associées à ce processus (fanfictions, démocratisation des outils numériques, œuvres transmédiatiques et immersives, etc.). Dans ce cadre, le tournant réflexif (vers un sentiment d’appartenance à une identité collective) et la mode médiatique autour de la culture geek ces dernières années trouvent leurs racines dans les moments fondateurs de la convergence culturelle (depuis les pulps fictions et la naissance des comic books jusqu’à la sortie de Star Wars, du Seigneur des anneaux, des premiers jeux de rôles et jeux vidéo). Mais cela doit aussi à la radicalisation récente des croisements médiatiques, des pratiques participatives, de la mondialisation des partages liée aux technologies numériques et au passage des identités prescrites aux identités choisies dans les sociétés contemporaines marquées par l’individualisme. / This dissertation is about « geek culture » and the emergence of this subcultural identity in recent years in France. This movement, born in North America, has entered the public sphere in a spectacular way and it encourages us to study its sociological reality. Geeks are seen here as fans of imaginary worlds (science-fiction, fantasy…), new technologies lovers, and as first and original audience of the process of cultural convergence defined by Henry Jenkins. The increasing visibility of the geek phenomenon is connected to many practices associated with this process (fanfictions, wide use of digital technology, transmedia and immersive storytelling, etc.). From this point of view, the reflexive moment (the feeling of being part of a collective identity) and the geek trend are both rooted by the beginnings of cultural convergence (from the pulp fictions, and the birth of comic books, to the release of Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings and the first role-playing or video games). It also has to do with the recent growth of links between media, with the success of participatory culture, the possibility of worldwide share thanks to digital technologies and the shift from preassigned identities to chosen ones in our individualistic society.