DAVID RAMBO, PhD

Trained to analyze how users and communities experience written, visual, and interactive media. Excellent writer, reviewer, and communicator in both individual and team settings. Experienced with pursuing multiple research projects simultaneously. Avid problem solver, eager collaborator, and DIY enthusiast.

Work Experience

• Postdoctoral Associate in Media Theory, Program in Literature, Duke University — September 2020 to August 2023

  • Assisted department chair with research and writing projects.
  • Designed and taught two seminars: one graduate and one undergraduate.

• Researcher — Jury-X, Chapel Hill, NC — Nov. 2019 to Mar. 2020

  • Investigated and assessed suitability of potential jurors for client attorneys in real time using online databases and social media.
  • Promoted to monitoring court transcripts and writing in-depth juror profiles.
  • Developed efficient and legible abbreviation style for court records.

• Front-end Web Developer — Duke University — Fall 2019 to March 2020

  • Developed a website for S-1 Speculative Sensation Lab using Hugo static site generator and Netlify: s-1lab.org .
  • Created and maintained a website for BrainCultures humanities lab using WordPress: sites.duke.edu/BrainCultures .

• Editor — Division of Occupational Science, UNC–Chapel Hill — September 2019

  • Collated and edited self-study document for Graduate School review.
  • Formatted tables, figures, appendices, and CVs for both print and HTML electronic access.
  • Ensured document’s legibility and ease of navigation for administrators and campus visitors.

• Instructor — Global Cultural Studies, Duke University — Spring 2015 & 2016

  • Designed and taught two writing-intensive undergraduate seminars, which received excellent feedback including an award for quality of instruction and intellectual stimulation.
  • Lectured and guided discussions about digital technologies, science fiction, media studies, and literary and film criticism.
  • Provided constructive feedback on writing assignments in a timely fashion and encouraged improvement by offering new grades for rewrites.

• Teaching and Research Assistant — Program in Literature, Duke University — Fall 2012–Fall 2016

  • Provided written feedback on students’ writing assignments.
  • Met with students to discuss course materials.
  • Managed course websites.

• Legal Secretary — Gray & Prouty, Sacramento, CA — September 2011–May 2012

  • Reviewed and submitted legal documents and subpoenaed records.
  • Coordinated scheduling for supervising attorney, depositions, court dates, and plaintiff doctor appointments.
  • Maintained timely correspondence with clients, plaintiff attorneys, and judges.

Education

Duke University

• Ph.D., Graduate Program in Literature, 2018.
  • Dissertation argues for an original interpretation of the co-evolution of humans and tools. Synthesizes philosophies of science and technology with analyses of pop cultural media including Dungeons & Dragons, electric guitar effects pedals, astrophotography, and videogame graphics.

University of California, Davis

• BA, English, with highest honors, 2011
  • Elliott Gilbert Memorial Prize for Best Honors Thesis, June 2011
• BA, History, with honors, 2011

Professional Service and Collaborations

• Review Board Member — Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities — December 2017 to Present
  • Write reports on article submissions regarding suitability for publication.
  • Assess argument, sources, and overall writing quality.
• Member — S-1 Speculative Sensation Lab, Duke University — Fall 2012 to Present
  • Collaborate on artistic projects and critical writing with faculty, graduate students, and visiting scholars.
  • “Networked Synaesthesia” — Conceived arduino-based, multi-sensory, multiplayer hack of Super Mario. Managed an eight-member team in project’s development and performance.
• Panel Organizer and Chair at Annual Conferences of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts — 2015, ‘17, ‘19.
• Delivered a dozen conference presentations as well as numerous guest lectures.
  • For a full list, please see my CV.
• “Teaching and Learning in the Humanities” Intern at the National Humanities Center, Durham NC — June–July 2017
  • Collaborated with graduate students and local public high school teachers to produce modular lesson plans.

Awards and Grants

• National Science Foundation Conference Travel Grant — $594 — November 7–10, 2019
  • Presenter and panel organizer, 33rd Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA), Irvine, CA.
• Katherine Goodman Stern Fellowship, Duke University — Academic Year 2017–2018
  • Competitive award for dissertation completion.
  • $22,912 stipend plus health insurance, tuition, and fees.
• Conference Travel Award, Graduate School, Duke U. — $700 — November 10, 2017
  • Presenter and panel organizer, 31st Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA), Tempe, AZ.
• Teaching Award, Trinity College, Duke University — Spring 2016
  • Rated top 5% in “Quality of Course and/or Intellectual Stimulation” for an undergraduate seminar.
• Black Family Fellowship Fund for Summer Research, Duke U — $5500 — 2016
• Prof Robert S. Rogers Fellowship Fund for Summer Research, Duke U — $5500 — 2015
• Conference Travel Award, Graduate School, Duke University — $700 — November 15, 2015
  • Presenter and panel organizer, 31st Annual Conference of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA), Houston, TX.
• Summer Research Grant, Graduate School, Duke University — $5500 — 2014

Academic Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• “Building, Coding, Typing: Defining Technological Individuation through Custom Mechanical Keyboard Culture,” Computational Culture 8 (2021): .

• “Contact Traces: On the Creative Technology of Videogame Gore,” Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture 42.3 (Fall 2020): 356–384.

• “Interstitial Life and the Banality of Novelty in Whitehead’s Process and Reality,” Process Studies 47.1-2 (2018): 26-46.

• “Of Fear and Exaltation: The Sublime Autonomy of Finance,” Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities 21.2 (2016): 83-98.

• “Analogizing Data: The Real Subsumption of Manifest Destiny by Capital,” Hyperrhiz 13 (November 2015): http://hyperrhiz.io/hyperrhiz13/sensors-data-bodies/manifest-data-rambo.html .

Book Collections

• “The Error-Image: On the Technics of Memory,” Post-Cinema: Theorizing 21st-Century Film, eds. Shane Denson and Julia Leyda, Falmer: REFRAME Books (2016): http://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/post-cinema/2-6-rambo/ .

• “Organisms in Reticula,” Network_Ecologies, eds. Amanda Starling Gould and Florian Wiencek, (2016): http://scalar.usc.edu/works/network-ecologies/organisms-in-reticula .

• Response to Rebecca Norton, “Displacement Paths,” Network_Ecologies, eds. Amanda Starling Gould and Florian Wiencek, (August 2016): http://scalar.usc.edu/works/network-ecologies/displacement-paths .