Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Jess Morrissette

Department of Political Science
739 Smith Hall, Marshall University
Huntington, West Virginia 25755
(304) 696-2760 • morrissette@marshall.edu

 EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D., University of Georgia (Political Science, 2007)
  • M.A., Virginia Tech (Political Science, 2001)
  • B.A., King College (History and Political Science, 1999)

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

  • Professor of Political Science, Marshall University (2016-present)
  • Associate Professor of Political Science, Marshall University (2011-2016)
  • Assistant Professor of Political Science, Marshall University (2007-2011)
  • Instructor of Record, University of Georgia (2004-2007)
  • Teaching Assistant, University of Georgia (2003)
  • Teaching Assistant, Virginia Tech (1999-2001)


COURSES OFFERED: Politics, Media, and Culture; Politics and Video Games; War and Popular Culture; Politics of the Undead; International Relations Theory; Conflict and Revolution; Russian Politics; Global Terrorism; American Foreign Policy; Intelligence and Covert Ops.

  

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE:

  • Director of International Affairs, Marshall University (2008-present)
    • Duties include overseeing, coordinating, and cultivating the interdisciplinary International Affairs major at Marshall University.

 

PUBLICATIONS:

Journal articles:

  • “Dudes, Boobs, and GameCubes: Video Game Advertising Enters Adolescence” (with Megan Condis). Media, Culture & Society (March 2023).
  • “I’d Like to Buy the World a Nuka-Cola: The Purposes and Meanings of Video Game Soda Machines.” Game Studies 20, no. 1 (March 2020).
  • “Glory to Arstotzka: Morality, Rationality, and the Iron Cage of Bureaucracy in Papers, Please.” Game Studies 17, no. 1 (July 2017).
  • “Beyond 2014: Afghanistan’s Agricultural Revival, Water Scarcity, and Regional Insecurity” (with Douglas Borer). Marine Corps University Journal 5, no. 2 (Fall 2014): 25-45.
  • “Zombies, International Relations, and the Production of Danger: Critical Security Studies versus the Living Dead.” Studies in Popular Culture 36, no. 2 (Spring 2014): 1-27.
  • “Marxferatu: The Vampire Metaphor as a Tool for Teaching Marx’s Critique of Capitalism.” PS: Political Science & Politics 46, no. 3 (July 2013): 637-642.
  • “Land Grabs, Radicalization, and Political Violence: Lessons from Mali and Beyond” (with Douglas Borer). CTX: Combating Terrorism Exchange 3, no. 1 (February 2013): 10-16.
  • “Rationality and Risk-Taking in Russia’s First Chechen War: Toward a Theory of Cognitive Realism.” European Political Science Review 2, no. 2 (July 2010): 187-210.
  • “Russian Authoritarian Pluralism: A Global Trend?” (with Douglas Borer). Cambridge Review of International Affairs 19, no. 4 (December 2006): 571-588.
  • “Where Oil and Water Do Mix: Environmental Scarcity, Political Legitimacy and Future Conflict the Middle East and North Africa” (with Douglas Borer). Parameters: US Army War College Quarterly 34, no. 4 (Winter 2004/05): 86-101.
    • Reprinted in USI Digest, India (Volume 7, No. 13, Sept. 2004-Feb. 2005).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 06/07, ed. John L. Allen, (McGraw-Hill, March 2006).
    • Translated into Italian and reprinted in Limes: Rivista Italiana di Geopolitica, a geopolitics review (Summer 2006).
    • Reprinted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities for their Shared Futures Faculty Development Institute (July 15-20, 2007, Sonoma State University).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 07/08, ed. John L. Allen, (McGraw-Hill, March 2007).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 08/09, ed. Zachary Sharp (McGraw-Hill, February 2008).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 09/10, ed. Zachary Sharp (McGraw-Hill, February 2009).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 10/11, ed. Zachary Sharp (McGraw-Hill, February 2010).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 11/12, ed. Zachary Sharp (McGraw-Hill, February 2011).
    • Reprinted as book chapter in Annual Editions: Environment 12/13, ed. Richard Eathorne (McGraw-Hill, February 2012).

 

Book chapters:

  • “Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter.” Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1985-2001 (forthcoming).
  • “Marxferatu: Introducing Marx through the Vampire Metaphor.” Teaching Marx & Critical Theory in the 21st Century, eds. Bryant William Sculos and Mary Caputi (Brill, August 2019).
  • “Elaine Marley.” 100 Greatest Video Game Characters, eds. Jaime Banks, Robert Mejia, and Aubrie Adams (Rowman & Littlefield, June 2017).

 

Other publications:

  • “A Lara Divided: How Tomb Raider’s Early Marketing Campaigns Objectified an Icon.” PC Gamer (October 2023).
  • “Werewolves of Bavaria: Gabriel Knight 2, Then and Now.” VICE Games (4 February 2021).
  • “The Game Journo’s Guide to Gamifying Girlfriends” Wireframe, Issue 38 (7 May 2020).
  • “Overwatch and the Return of the Trolls.” Wireframe, Issue 36 (9 April 2020).
  • “How Games Marketing Invented Toxic Gamer Culture.” VICE Games (25 March 2020).
  • “Playing with Power” Wireframe, Issue 32 (13 February 2020).
  • “The Myth of the Video Game Auteur” Wireframe, Issue 26 (7 November 2019).
  • “The Politics of Passionate Patti: Sex Positivity and the Problematic Past of Patriarchal Play.” First Person Scholar (2 October 2019).
  • “The Pause That Refreshes: Drinks Machines and Game Design.” Wireframe, Issue 23 (26 September 2019).
  • “Gatekeeping in the Golden Age of Video Games.” Wireframe, Issue 19 (1 August 2019).
  • “Dark as a Dungeon: Fallout 76 and the Coal Mining Industry.” First Person Scholar (17 April 2019).
  • “Middle East Turmoil: Is It 1989 All Over Again?” Small Wars Journal (10 February 2011).

 

Book reviews:

  • Review of The Crisis of Russian Democracy: The Dual State, Factionalism, and the Medvedev Succession, by Richard Sakwa. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 40, no. 2 (January 2012): 414-416.
  • Review of Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies, by Allen Hicken. Journal of Politics 72, no. 4 (October 2010): 1261 -1262.
  • Review of Politics and the People in Revolutionary Russia, by Sarah Badcock. History: Reviews of New Books 36, no. 3 (Spring 2008).
  • Review of Nations and Nationalism: A Reader, ed. Spencer & Wollman. Perspectives on Political Science 35, no. 2 (Spring 2006).
  • Review of Globalization: People, Perspectives, and Progress, by William H. Mott IV. Perspectives on Political Science 34, no.1 (Winter 2005).
  • Review of Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism, by Vadim Volkov. Perspectives on Political Science 32, no.2 (Spring 2003).
  • Review of The First Cold War, by Donald Davis and Eugene Trani. History: Reviews of New Books 31, no. 1 (Fall 2002).
  • Review of Seeking Social Justice Through Globalization, by G.N. Kitching. Perspectives on Political Science 31, no. 4 (Fall 2002).
  • Review of Beyond Nationalism, ed. Fred Dallmayr and José M. Rosales. Perspectives on Political Science 31, no. 3 (Summer 2002).
  • Review of Globalization, Power, and Democracy, ed. Plattner and Smolar. Perspectives on Political Science 30, no. 3 (Summer 2001).
  • Review of Rapprochement or Rivalry? Russia-China Relations in a Changing Asia, ed. Sherman Garnett. Perspectives on Political Science 30, no. 2 (Spring 2001).
  • Review of Political Construction Sites: Nation-Building in Russia and the Post-Soviet States, by Pål Kolstø. Perspectives on Political Science 29, no. 4 (Fall 2000).

 

CONFERENCE PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION:

  • “Dudes, Boobs, and GameCubes: Video Game Advertising Enters Adolescence.” Paper co-presented with Megan Condis at the National Conference of the Popular Culture Association, 14 April 2021.
  • “Good Luck, Have Fun: Player Endorsements and the Gamification of Niceness in Overwatch.” Paper presented at the National Conference of the Popular Culture Association, Washington, DC, 17-20 April 2019.
  • “Skeuomorphs in Classic and Contemporary Games.” With Allison Cary, Kristen Lillvis, Kristin Steele, and Lori Thompson. Panel presented at the Rutgers-Camden Archive of Digital Ephemera (R-CADE) Symposium, 20 April 2018.
  • “I’d Like to Buy the World a Nuka-Cola: The Purposes and Meanings of Video Game Soda Machines.” Paper presented at the National Conference of the Popular Culture Association, Indianapolis, 28-31 March 2018.
  • “Glory to Arstotzka: Morality, Rationality, and the Iron Cage of Bureaucracy as Gameplay Mechanics in Papers, Please.” Paper presented at the Annual Northeastern Political Science Association Conference, Philadelphia, 12-14 November 2015.
  • “The Second Scramble: Land Rights, Food Security, and Political Legitimacy in Contemporary Africa.” Co-authored with Douglas Borer. Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, San Diego, April 2012.
  • “Zombies, International Relations, and the Production of Danger: Critical Security Studies Versus the Living Dead.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, San Diego, April 2012.
  • “Marxferatu: The Vampire Metaphor as a Tool for Teaching Marx’s Critique of Capitalism.” Paper presented at the 2011 Annual Northeastern Political Science Association Conference, Philadelphia, 17-19 November 2011.
  • “Risk and Resurgence: Russian Military Adventurism in Chechnya and Georgia.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Western Political Science Association, San Antonio, 21-23 April 2011.
  • “Addressing Water Scarcity in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Theory and Practice in Regime Formation.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, New Orleans, 17-20 February 2010.
  • “The Political Economy of Water Scarcity: Building Interstate Institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.” Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, New York City, 15-18 February 2009.
  • “Risk-Taking and Russia’s First Chechen War: Realism, Rationality, & Prospect Theory.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Political Science Association at West Virginia State University, 17-18 October 2008.
  • “The Natural Environment and War: The Role of Water Scarcity and Conflict.” Co-authored with Douglas Borer. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Western Political Science Association, San Diego, 20-22 March 2008.
  • “The Political Economy of Water Scarcity, Conflict, and Cooperation: Lessons from the Euphrates and Nile River Basins.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the West Virginia Political Science Association, 26-27 October 2007.
  • “Russian and Chinese Reform at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the International Studies Association, New Orleans, March 2002.
  • “The Hydro-Political Economy of the Middle East.” Co-authored with Douglas A. Borer. Paper presented at the annual ISA-South conference, Wake Forest, 13 October 2001.
  • “From the Shadows of History: Russian Authoritarian Pluralism.” Co-authored with Douglas Borer. Paper presented at the 18th World Congress of the International Political Science Association, Quebec City, Canada, 1-6 August 2000.

  

Other presentations and talks:

  • Invited speaker: “Russia: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” Pi Sigma Alpha Lecture Series, Marshall University, 8 March 2018.
  • Invited speaker: “The Politics of Fear: Domestic and Lone-Wolf Terrorism in the US.” Society of Yeager Scholars, Marshall University, 30 October 2012.
  • Panel participant: Amnesty International Forum on the Arab Spring, Marshall University, 2 December 2011.
  • “Marxferatu: The Vampire as a Metaphor for Marx’s Critique of Capitalism.” Talk/performance delivered at Marshall University’s Fifth Annual Body Shots Symposium, 17 March 2011.
  • Panel participant: Marshall University Forum on Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, 7 March 2011.
  • Panel participant: Blue Gold: World Water Wars documentary screening, Marshall University, 23 February 2011.
  • “Everything Old is New Again: Injecting Life into the Traditional Lecture Format.” Talk given at Marshall University’s iPED: Inquiring Pedagogies Workshop, August 2010.
  • Panel participant: The Story of Stuff documentary screening, Marshall University, 9 March 2010.
  • “Global Warming, Water Scarcity, and Security.” Research presented at the Marshall University Global Warming Teach-In, 1 February 2008.
  • “The Power of Ideas: Commercialization, Academics, and Political Science.” Panel presentation at the Sam Nunn Policy Forum, 5-7 April 2002.

 

PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITS:

  • Virtual Vending (2019, a multimedia exhibit exploring consumerism in virtual gaming environments at The Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, New York).

 

AWARDS AND ASSISTANTSHIPS:

  • Whatley Award (2014, recognizes research that “best represents the scholarly values sought for the Popular Culture Association in the South and for the study of popular culture”)
    • Awarded for “Zombies, International Relations, and the Production of Danger: Critical Security Studies versus the Living Dead,” published in the Spring 2014 issue of Studies in Popular Culture.
  • Pickens-Queen Teaching Award (2010, recognizes “the importance of excellent teaching in the first years of a faculty member’s career at Marshall University.”)
  • Dissertation Completion Award, University of Georgia (2006-2007, awarded by the University based on nomination of department)
  • TA Mentors Program, University of Georgia (2005-2006, one of fifteen graduate students chosen from the University to mentor TAs in developing better teaching practices)
  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, University of Georgia (Spring 2005, recognizing the top ten percent of teaching assistants at the University)
  • GLOBIS Study Abroad, University of Georgia (Spring 2005, selected to teach Post-Industrial Democracies in University study abroad program in Verona, Italy)
  • Departmental Teaching Assistantship, University of Georgia (2003-2007, serving as both teaching assistant and instructor of record)
  • University-wide Research Assistantship, University of Georgia (2001-2003)
  • Departmental Teaching Assistantship, Virginia Tech (1999-2001)

 

Updated 31 August 2023.