Ashley ML Guajardo

Dr. Ashley ML Guajardo (née Brown) is an award-winning teacher, streamer, and scholar researching and teaching at The Game Center, NYU. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Arizona State University, a Masters of Arts in Sociology from The University of Manchester (UK), and a PhD in Sociology from The University of Manchester (UK).

Dr. Guajardo’s research interests lie within the intersection of sexuality and play. She is the author of Sexuality and Role-Playing Games (Routledge, 2015) and dozens of book chapters and journal articles on fandom, sexuality, videogames, and table-top roleplaying games. Currently, she is working on multiple book projects exploring how fandom and fantasy shape sexual desire.

Previously, Dr. Guajardo was faculty at Brunel University London (2014-2016), and the University of Utah (2016-2025). She won awards for innovative and inclusive teaching at both institutions. Since 2017, she has hosted a weekly educational Twitch stream on games user research methods. She has also held several leadership positions in industry and academia-facing professional organizations. She was Vice President of the Global Game Jam (2020-1), conference co-director of the IGDA’s Games User Research Special Interest Group (2021-2), and currently serves as president of the Digital Games Research Association (2025-7). In 2025, she was inducted as a fellow of the Higher Education Video Game Association.