Zach Whalen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication where his teaching focuses on the critical study and practice of digital media in a variety of genres, including video games, electronic literature, comics, and other media. He has published journal articles and scholarly essays on video games, including an article in Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research, and book chapters on Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and early game consoles. With Laurie N. Taylor, Zach Whalen is the co-editor of Playing the Past: History and Nostalgia in Video Games, published by Vanderbilt University Press in 2008.
Zachary N. Whalen
- Asst Professor - New Media
- Engl, Ling & Communication
Academic Degrees
- B.A., Carson-Newman College
- M.A., Ph.D., University of Florida

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Zach Whalen, assistant professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication, presented a paper at the recent Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts conference, held this year in Milwaukee, Wis. The presentation, "A Counterfactual Historiography of Three Game Platforms," challenged the received metanarrative of game console generations. By way of a close reading of three less well-known consoles -- Channel F, Vectrex and Virtual Boy -- the paper explores the implications of an alternate history for video game devices.