Faculty and staff

Jess is an Assistant Professor in Arts & Integrated Studies at UFV. They started as a sessional instructor at UFV in 2017, teaching courses in Communications, MACS, and Continuing Education. During that time, they collaborated on the interdisciplinary conference Riverdale: A Land of Contrasts (2018-2020) and co-edited the Archie/Sabrina Universe (2023). Jess’ research informs their pedagogy. By encouraging play, creativity, and self-reflection students work toward developing their own foundation of collaboration, adaptability, and equitability for a rapidly changing globalized landscape.

Jess is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia in Language and Literacy Education. Their research asks questions about media, games, and fandom through queer, anti-racist and feminist perspectives. Currently, they’re exploring discourses of racism and resistance in Dungeons and Dragons content creator communities. They ask: what’s it mean to create in a precarious labour environment informed by a white cis-heteropatricarchial colonial capitalist society?

Jess holds a MA in Communications from Carleton University where they explored monstrous bodies and personhood in zombie media. They worked as a freelance content writer for nearly a decade and produced Raspberry (2017-2021), an arts and culture magazine in the Fraser Valley.

Jess spends their time playing video games, baking pastries, and co-storytelling in Dungeons and Dragons. They’re currently playing as a halfling Monk with a penchant for chaos and inexplicable charm. 

• PhD candidate, Language and Literacy Education (University of British Columbia)
  Thesis: Making it work: Examining discourses of labour, gender, and unnamed whiteness in D&D’s homebrew creator community
• MA, Communications (Carleton University, 2016)
  Thesis: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Zombie: Normalizing Monstrous Bodies Through Zombie Media
  
  
• BA Hons, English: Creative Writing, Sociology Minor (UFV, 2014)

My main priority is a welcoming and safe classroom environment where students can realize their authentic voice and strengths. Regardless of course content, I believe in setting learners up for success in and out of the classroom by guiding their critical thinking and equipping them with tools to thrive in their fields. I aim to give them plenty of options to arrive at answers they’re proud of. I work alongside them while they navigate the (often messy and never linear) learning process. I teach so others can learn, care about what they create, and think critically about the systems in which they traffic.

Courses taught:

• CMNS 235: Public Speaking
• CMNS 180: Intercultural Communication
• CMNS 125: Professional Communications
• CMNS 251: Professional Report Writing
• IDS 100: Culture and Community
• MACS/JRNL 235: Introduction to Journalism in Canada
• MACS 399D: Special Topics: Social Media

• Wind, J., Jenson, J., Perry, N., Kim, D., (2023). Culture, Sociality, and Play: Studying Brick and Mortar Game Store Employees. Canadian Game Studies Association Conference 2023.
  
  
• Wind, J., Jenson, J., Perry, N., Kim, D., (2023). Culture, Sociality, and Play: Studying Brick and Mortar Game Store Employees. CCA23.
  
  
• Wind, J., Celinski, H., Perry, N., (2023). Level Up: Gamification, Outcomes, and the Power of Play. LLED Graduate Student Conference.
  
  
• Wind, J., Perry, N., Kim, D., Tursunkulova, I., (2023). Gaming Education: Discussions of emerging games scholarship. LLED Graduate Student Conference.
  
  
• Wind, J. (2022). Participation, Resistance, Dungeons & Dragons. Presented at Games in Action, UBC, Vancouver, BC.

• McAlpine, H., Sweeney, R., & Wind, J. (Eds.). (2023). The Archie/Sabrina Universe. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
  
  
• Wind, J. (2023). 'Putting Racism Aside': Dungeons & Dragons, Ancestry & Culture, and Race Discourse in the Homebrew Community In J. Walton (Ed.), Utopia on the Tabletop. Bristol, UK: Sad Press.
  
  
• Wind, J., Towler, C. (2018). Where there be dragons, there is treasure: Why people keep talking about Dungeons and Dragons and why you should join the party. Raspberry, 2(3), 6-17.
  
  
• Wind, J. (2017). Brooms up: Quidditch, culture, and the rise of a new sport. Raspberry, 2(2), 12-22.
  
  
• Wind, J. (2016). Watch. Louden Singletree literary magazine. UFV.