Victoria Coleman
McNair Scholar 2022
Victoria Coleman is a psychology major in the College of Education and Social Sciences at West Texas A&M University. She is a senior anticipating graduation in Spring 2023. After attaining a bachelor’s degree, Victoria intends to go to grad school for either clinical psychology or counseling psychology. One of her main goals is to make mental health resources and care more accessible to everyone.
“My favorite part of being in McNair was being around a group of people who are driven, passionate, and supportive. Many of us did not understand each other’s topics, but we would always be willing to listen to the other ramble about how their process was going, and it was so nice to see everyone excited about what they were doing. I knew whenever I felt overwhelmed, I had a group of people who would check in on me, support me, and reassure me that I was doing well." - Victoria Coleman
"The fact in fantasy: An analysis of expression in tabletop roleplaying games"
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Nicole Kraus
Over the years, tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) have seen an increase in popularity and diversity (Curran, 2011), with an increasing amount of players that are non-heterosexual and gender non-conforming. TTRPGs, which are collaborative in nature and rely on a game master (GM) and players to interact and create a story together, provide a space where players have complete control over the kind of character that they play. This paper examines how individuals use TTRPGs to express their gender identity and sexuality, filling a previous lacuna in research on the topic. Using semi-structured interviews with 17 players over July-August 2022, I found that some individuals use TTRPGs as a way to express themselves, while others use them as a form of escapism