Nick Bowman

Biography

Dr. Bowman joins the faculty at Texas Tech University having spent the nearly 10 years at West Virginia University, with a brief stint at Young Harris College (Georgia). A graduate of Michigan State University, his research focuses on entertainment and persuasive applications of interactive media, such as video games, augmented and virtual reality, and social media. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and presented nearly 200 different works at regional, national, and international conferences, and has co-authored two textbooks - one focused on mediated communication and the other on entertainment media.

He was the editor of Communication Research Reports from 2017 to 2019. He is the current editor of Journal of Media Psychology and an associate editor of Technology, Mind, and Behavior. Nick has taught courses in the US, Germany, and Taiwan. In Spring 2020, he was awarded a J. William Fulbright grant to teach at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, while conducting augmented and virtual reality research in their Media Psychology Lab. Prior to his academic career, Nick was a journalist in St. Louis, where he covered high school and college sports, before helping found regional news coverage in Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan with Courthouse News Service. He also worked briefly in public relations, and was a registered lobbyist in Missouri.

A native of St. Louis, Nick is an avid sports fans - a quick visit to his office will serve as a reminder of (a) how large Cardinals Nation is and (b) how scrappy the Stanley Cup-champion St. Louis Blues are. When not on campus, he can usually be seen around town driving his mostly restored 1964 Triumph Spitfire, or growing his comic book and video game collections.

Research

Dr. Bowman's research broadly considers the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social demands of interactive media, so that we can better understand (a) human motivations to engage interactive media and (b) the effects of that usage on myriad dimensions.

Recent Publications

Note: Authors marked with an asterisk (*) represent student co-authors

• Banks, J. & Bowman, N. D. (in press). Some assembly required: Player mental models of videogame avatars. Upcoming in Frontiers in Psychology.
• Bowman, N. D., Banks, J., & Downs, E. P. (in press). Mechanisms of identification and social differentiation in player-avatar relations.Upcoming in Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds.
• Robinson, J., & Bowman, N. D. (in press). Returning to Azeroth: Nostalgia, sense of place, and social presence in World of Warcraft Classic. Upcoming in Games & Culture.
• *Yoshimura, K., Bowman, N. D., Banks, J., & Cohen, E. (2021). Character morality, enjoyment, and appreciation: A replication of Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson (2017). Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2021.1884096
• *Daneels. R.,. Bowman, N. D., Possler, D., & Mekler, E. (2021). The ‘eudaimonic experience': A scoping review of the concept in digital games research. Media & Communication, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i2.3824
• *Klecka, H., Johnston, I., Bowman, N. D., & Green, C. S. (2021). Researchers' commercial video game knowledge associated with differences in beliefs about the impact of gaming on human behavior. Entertainment Computing.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2021.100406
• Pressgrove, G., & Bowman, N. D. (2021). From immersion to intention? Exploring advances in prosocial storytelling. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/nvsm.1689
• *Watts, E., Koban, K., & Bowman, N. D. (2021). Digital gaming audiences: Awareness, without closeness. Entertainment Computing, 36. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2020.100384

Teaching Focus

• CMI2310: Introduction to Creative Media Industries
• CMI2330: Media Literacy
• CMI3345: Analyzing Entertainment Media
• CMI3375: Digital Games and Culture
• MCOM5366: Seminar in Mass Communication Theory

 

Leadership & Awards

 

• Keynote Address, New York State Communication Association, 2020
• Fulbright-Wu Jing-Jyi Arts and Culture Fellow, 2019-2020
• J. William Fulbright Scholarship, Spring 2020
• Publications Committee, National Communication Association
• Expertpanel reviewer, Fonds Wetenschlappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen (Belgium)
• Past Chair, Game Studies Division, National Communication Association
• Past Chair, Game Studies Division, International Communication Association