About
I am a PhD student at the UBC School of Information, and graduate fellow with the UBC Critical Play Lab. My research explores video games in critical pedagogical and research contexts with a focus on user engagement, anti-capitalism, and Horror. In particular, my work examines how video games can be used to engage with the social, environmental, and labour impacts of late-stage capitalism.
Research
Research interests:
- Video games
- Critical game studies
- Capitalism and labour
- Horror
- Research through design
- Media studies
Publications
Shaffer, B. (Accepted 2026). Install the eyes of corporate insight? Cruelty Squad and the Video Game Inventory as Capitalist Surgical Table. In M.P. Tahat, K. Tedesco, and W.R. Bishop (Eds.), Subtle Body Horror.
Shaffer, B. (2025). Signalis [Review]. Science Fiction Research Association Review, 55(1).
Goodyear, T., Sandhu, M., Pitcher, C., Dmytro, D., Shaffer, B., Moore-Arbour, S., Gilham, C., Bruno, T., Gadermann, A., Sam, J., Ngieng, N., & Jenkins, E. (2025). Taking stock of youth substance use portrayals: A critical content analysis of Canadian news media, 2016–2024. Social Science & Medicine, 379, 118188.
Shaffer, B. (2016). A Manifesto for the Cyborg Body. Hinge: A Journal of Contemporary Studies, 22.
Awards
Anna Leith Memorial Scholarship, UBC, 2025
Critical Play Lab Fellowship, UBC Pop Culture Cluster, 2025
Faculty of Graduate Studies Award, UBC, 2025
Picard Trust Award, Burnaby Public Library, 2024
Canada Graduate Scholarship (Masters), SSHRC, 2024
Spectrum Scholar Award, American Library Association, 2024
Graduate Supervision
Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Heather O’Brien