Dr Denise Doyle

About Dr Denise Doyle

With a background in Fine Art Painting and Digital Media, Denise is an Artist-Researcher, and Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at the University of Wolverhampton, PhD Co-Supervisor at SMARTlab Research Institute, University College Dublin, and Adjunct Professor in Virtual Worlds and Digital Practice, Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U), Toronto, Canada. During her PhD research she developed an art laboratory space in the virtual world, Second Life, to investigate creative practice in virtual world spaces. She continues to develop Kriti Island for that purpose.

Denise has published widely on the subject of the virtual and the imaginary, the experience of the avatar body in virtual worlds and game spaces, and the use of virtual worlds for creative practice. She sits on two editorial boards: the International Journal of Performance Art and Digital Media and the Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds both published by Intellect in the UK. Her research interests include: virtual worlds, art-sci dialogues, interactive film, philosophies of the imagination, practice-based research methods, phenomenological research methods, and digital narratives. In 2010 she participated in an International Research Workshop in Denmark that brought together 45 researchers from around the world to consider Making Sense of Virtual Worlds and User Driven Innovation. In 2011 she undertook a collaborative Artist Residency in India to explore the folk art practices in the state of West Bengal and the potential of new technologies for intangible cultural heritage. She is currently developing a project entitled Astronauts and Avatars exploring bodies in real and virtual space.

Recent Publications (2008 – present)

• Doyle, D. Astronauts and Avatars: Travels through the Physical, the Virtual and the Imagined IN Lean, G., Staiff, R., & Waterton, E. (Eds) (2013) The Poetics of Travel, Berghahn Books, New York & Oxford. (forthcoming)
• Doyle, D. (2013) Meta-Dreaming: Entangling the Virtual and the Physical IN Power, D. & Teigland, R. (Eds) (2013) The Immersive Internet, Palgrave-Macmillan, London & New York, pp.37-48.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Art and the Liminal: Imagination, Liminality and Avatar-Mediated Presence
• Doyle, D. (2012) Transitional Spaces: Consciousness, Imagination, and the Avatar-Mediated Experience IN Gackenbach, J. (Ed) (2012) Video Game Play and Consciousness, Nova Science Publishers, pp247-262, ISBN 978-1-62081-133-9.
• Doyle, D. (2012) Hybrid Worlds, Hybrid Practices, and the Enchantment of Place, Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, Special Issue: The Garden of Digital Delights: Rethinking Crossmedia Practices in Contemporary Art and Culture. Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts Press, Lithuania, 67 (2), pp.19-29. ISSN: 1392-0316.
• Doyle, D.  (2012) Transitional Spaces: Consciousness, Imagination, and the Avatar-Mediated Experience, Towards a Science of Consciousness 2012, University of Arizona, Tucson, 9-14 April 2012, Conference Proceedings.
• Doyle, D. (2011) Emergent Imagination: Developing a framework for the analysis of artworks in virtual worlds, Cyberworlds 2011, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 4-6 Oct 2011, Conference Proceedings.
• Doyle, D. (2011) The History of Spaces (and Technologies) of the Imagination, ReWire 2011, Fourth International Conference on the Histories of Media, Art, Science and Technology, Liverpool, 28-30 Sept 2011, Conference Proceedings.
• Doyle, D. (2011) Art and the Emergent Imagination in Avatar-Mediated Online Space, ISEA 2011 17^th International Symposium on Electronic Art. Istanbul: Sabanci University (forthcoming).
• Doyle, D. (2011) The Body of the Avatar: Constructing Human Presence in Virtual Worlds IN Enslinn, A. & Muse, E. (Eds) (2011) Creating Second Lives: Community, Identity and Spatiality as Constructions of the Virtual, Routledge, Oxford & New York. ISBN: 978-0-415-88420-4 (hbk)
• Doyle, D. (2010) Art and the Emergent Imagination in Avatar-Mediated Online Space. PhD Thesis. SMARTlab, University of East London. Supervisor, Professor Lizbeth Goodman.
• Doyle, D. & MacCallum-Stewart, E. (2010) (Guest Co-Editors) The Imagination and the imaginary in games and virtual worlds. Special Issue, Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 2: 2. Intellect Publications. ISSN: 1757191X 
• Doyle, D. (2010) Immersed in Learning: Supporting and Developing Creative Practice in Virtual Worlds. Hunsinger, J. & Krotoski, A. (Guest Editors) Learning, Media and Technology. Special Issue: Learning in Virtual Worlds. Routledge. ISSN 1743-9884
• Doyle, D. & Harrinson, D. (2010) Kritical Art Works in Second Life IN Mura, G. (Ed) (2010) Meta-plasticity in Virtual Worlds: Aesthetics and Semantics Concepts, IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
• Doyle, D. (2009) Embodied Presence: The Imaginary in Virtual Worlds, Conference Proceedings, DAC09, University of Irvine, California.
• Doyle, D. (2009) The Body of the Avatar: Rethinking the Mind Body Relationship in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, 1: 2, pp 131-141. Intellect Publications. ISSN: 1757191X, doi: 10.1386/jgvw.1.2.131/1
• Doyle, D. (2009) The Post-human Imaginary and the Body of the Avatar, Conference Proceedings, ISEA 2009 15^th International Symposium on Electronic Art. Belfast: University of Ulster. 
• Doyle, D. (2009) Kritical Works in SL II exhibition catalogue, CADRE, Wolverhampton. ISBN: 9780956020420
• Doyle, D. (2009) Virtual Worlds and New Realms of Creativity: The Kritical Works in SL Project, Mardi Gras Conference Proceedings, University of Louisiana.
• Doyle,, D. (2008) Art and the Avatar: The Kritical Works in SL Project. International Journal of Performance Art and Digital Media, 4: 2&3, pp 137-153 ISSN: 1479-4713 Intellect Publications, doi: 10.1386/padm.4.2&3.137/1
• Doyle,, D. (2008) Kritical Works in SL exhibition catalogue.  Lulu Publishing, Morrisville. ISBN: 978-1-4092-1331-4
• Doyle,, D. (2008) Virtual Worlds and Creative Practice: The Immersed in Learning Project, ReLIVE 08, Open University Conference Proceedings. ISBN: 97818487310U4
• Doyle,, D. (2008) Conditions for the Imaginary in Virtual Worlds, Conference Proceedings, ISEA 2008, p148-9, ISBN: 978-981-08-0768-9.

Exhibitions and Events 

External Activities

• Editoral Board Member of the Journal of Gaming and Virtual Worlds, Intellect Publishing, 2008 – present.
• Editoral Board Member of the International Journal of Performance Art and Digital Media, Intellect Publishing, 2011 – present.
• Review Editor for the Journal of Learning, Media, and Technology, Routledge, 2010 – present.
• Invited Participant at the Three Day Research Workshop, Making Sense of Virtual Worlds and User Driven Innovation, Roskilde University, Magleaas, Denmark, June 2010.
• Invited Speaker at One Day Virtual Worlds Seminar, Roskilde University, Denmark, October 2008.

Dr Denise Doyle is a supervisor for the following PhD students at:

 The University of Wolverhampton:

• Garfield Benjamin
• Greg Marshall
• Clive Moore

SMARTlab, University College Dublin:

• Lynne Heller
• Taey Iohe