Derek Pasborg (They/Them)

UBCO PhD STUDENT (2026-present)

Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Digital Arts + Humanities)

University of British Columbia | Okanagan Campus | Sylix Okanagan Nation Territory

Email Address: dpasborg@student.ubc.ca

Research Interests: Video games, Video game communities, Anthropology of play, Affect, Emotions, Ethnography, Nostalgia, Research-Creation

Derek Pasborg (they/them) is a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies (Digital Arts & Humanities) at The University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. Their research interests are interdisciplinary, including anthropology, sociology, and game studies. Their primary research interest concerns the personal and emotional experiences of games: how player’s/user’s personal narratives shape the affective discourse of video games, and the implications of this for individual’s social lives both online and offline. Before pursuing their studies at UBC, they completed a Master of Arts in Sociology at Concordia University, with their master’s thesis, Video Games and their Affective Intensities: Locating and Exploring the Emotional Intensities in Online Communities and Project Zomboid. During their graduate studies, they were a research assistant on two SSHRC-funded grant projects: EMERGE Matrix, and the Fun Palace SMP (Material Allegories and Minecraft). They previously graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Arts, Specialization in Anthropology. Derek is also a co-founder of the NOSTAGAIN Network, the first student-led research collective in North America focused on the generative potentials of nostalgia. Formed at the Technoculture, Arts and Games (TAG) Research Center in the Milieux Institute at Concordia University alongside other artists, writers, designers, and researchers, NOSTAGAIN hosts a yearly symposium and a number of other events, including a live online webseries called memorabilia.mp4.

Education

University of British Columbia Okanagan, PhD student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies 2026-present

Concordia University, Master of Arts in Sociology 2022-2025

Concordia University, Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology 2016-2021