Biography
Zach Rzicznek is a doctoral student in Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. He holds a master of arts degree from the School of Media and Communication from Bowling Green State University and retains practical experience in radio/audio production. With upwards of three years of teaching assistantship experience, Zach looks to make a difference in the education of his students by practicing inclusive pedagogy in the classroom.
As a researcher, he is both a critical scholar and technological historian, focused on the ways in which entertainment media products and the evolution of technology inform culture and society. Through both analytical and empirical methodologies, Zach also interrogates representations of technology, history, and violence in entertainment media and how historical and political narratives may be altered, repurposed, and/or reiterated for economic and/or political gain. Specifically, Zach pulls at the strings of the military-entertainment and military-industrial complexes, unravelling the ways in which these economic and political structures inform meaning making at both the (inter)national (e.g., U.S. defense policy) and local (e.g., audience interpretation) levels.
His previous critical and cultural work has analyzed resistance to dominant or hegemonic ideologies through the usage of podcasts and digital audio, as well as noted online gaming forums as potential sources of inspiration for community intervention and social activism in mediated environments. His previous quantitative work has investigated game-induced frustration as a potential contributor to aggressive behavior and cognition while remaining relevant to social contexts and the greater media ecology.
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Sound Engineering, Bowling Green State University
Master of Arts, Media & Communication, Bowling Green State University
Presentations
Rzicznek, Z. (2020). The counter-hegemonic capabilities of podcasts and digital audio: Political
hegemony, Bernie Sanders, Joe Rogan, and the 2020 presidential election. National Communication Association Annual Convention 106 (virtual paper presentation).
Rzicznek, Z. (2021). Bystander intervention on online gaming forums as inspiration for social activism. Central States Communication Association Convention (virtual panel presentation).