Matthew Wilhelm Kapell - Publications & Teaching Experience

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Welcome to my academic web home. I’m an anthropologist and historian, with M.A. degrees in each discipline, and a Ph.D. in American Studies, who specializes in the study of cultural history, media, film, and popular culture.

My newest book dropped in February 2025. It is called Broadening Horizon: Essays on Environment, Culture, Identity and Myth in the Game Franchise. It has chapters by scholars in Poland, Finland, Germany, Canada, the UK and the US. It has a very pretty cover:

I am a native of Detroit, who lived and taught in Swansea, Wales, California, New York and New Jersey. I’m currently residing in New Jersey and teaching at Pace University in Manhattan. I’ve taught everything from Classics to Genetics but mostly teach American Studies and Game Studies now.

The links below will take you to information on my publications. The book based on my Ph.D. work at Swansea University, Exploring the Next Frontier: Vietnam, NASA, Star Trek and Utopia in 1960s and 70s Myth and History as well as my newest edited volumes, including Playing with the Past: Digital Games and the Simulation of History (edited with Andrew B.R. Elliot; that book also has its own web page at Playingwiththepast.com) – a book that the journal History and Theory recently called a “foundational text” in the field.

My new book is in a series I edit examining games played by people – digital and others – that you can learn about at studiesingaming.com.

You can also find information on my earlier books and other publications, my teaching history across multiple disciplines and information on other publications and presentations, too.

To the right you’ll find various links to the work of colleagues, and a mostly accurate and more complete bio of myself on Wikipedia that amuses the heck out of me.