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My name is Andrea Smith (also known as A Black Meeple), and I’m currently a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of Iowa.

In 2018 and 2019, I received my BS in Psychology and my BA in Sociology with a minor in LGBTQ+ Studies from Louisiana State University. I then completed my MA in Sociology at the University of Central Florida, where my thesis analyzed how two of the most partisan cable news networks, FOX News and MSNBC, framed victims and officers in their coverage of cases where police killed Black men. That work was driven by my strong interest in racial inequality and media representation, but it was also emotionally taxing. Spending so much time immersed in tragedy, violence, and anti-Blackness began to wear me down. I started to feel like I was losing hope in society and the world. That sense of pessimism led me to reconnect with hobbies I've enjoyed since childhood: anime, video games, and my main passion, board games.

I had a memorable experience with a clerk at Gencon, the largest board gaming convention in North America. This experience caused me to reevaluate not only what I study but also why I study it. As a sociologist, I realized I needed to make room for joy, community, and the things I love because otherwise, I wouldn’t survive. I started embracing the nerdy parts of myself that had always been there: board games, fandoms, manga, and play. From that, my dissertation was born.

My dissertation explores how race, space, and representation shape the ways Black nerds navigate and find joy in spaces often constructed and imagined as white and male. What can the existence and experiences of Black folks in nerd leisure activities reveal about race, gender, nerd culture, and Black Joy? How does Black Joy manifest in nerd spaces? What can the experiences and strategies of Black nerds teach us about other communities that belong to socially contradictory groups? I primarily employ qualitative methods, including interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and visual methods, to explore these questions. My broader research interests include racial inequality, cultural representation, and the ideological roots of policy and exclusion.

When I’m not working on my dissertation, I enjoy hula hoop dancing, reading manga, playing board games, and crocheting. I also started a blog that talks about the intersection of board games, nerds, play, race, and sociology. I’m always looking for ways to make nerd spaces more inclusive, representative, and fun!