Matthew Reid Horrigan

Sessional Instructor · Alexander College · Simon Fraser University

Department of Social Sciences, Alexander College
School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University

(778) 996-9770 · matt.horrigan@icloud.com · matthorriganmusic@gmail.com · m.horrigan@alexandercollege.ca

Areas of Expertise

Media Studies, Sound & Music, Production Cultures

Education

2025
PhD, Individualized Interdisciplinary Studies. Faculty of Communication, Art, and Technology, Simon Fraser University. Dissertation: “Departmentalities: Class, Myth, and Service Moviemaking.” Committee: Eldritch Priest, Lindsey Freeman, Nicolas Kenny, Aleena Chia.
2017
MFA, Interdisciplinary Studies. School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University. Supervisor: Arne Eigenfeldt.
2014
BMus, Composition. Bernard Shapiro prize for excellence in music research. Schulich School of Music, McGill University. Advisors: John Rea, Brian Cherney.

Appointments

2023–
Sessional Instructor, Department of Social Sciences. Alexander College.
2017–
Sessional Instructor, School for the Contemporary Arts. Simon Fraser University.
2016
Visiting Researcher, Department of Media, Humanities and the Arts. University of Huddersfield.
2016–23
Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Communication, Art, and Technology. Simon Fraser University.

Publications

Monographs

Under contract—manuscript delivery December 2026. Voiceshifting. Routledge.

Refereed Journal Articles

“The Myth of the Suffering Artist in the Mind of the City, or Hinterscapes: A Textured Circuit”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2026. BC Studies 230.
“Voiceshifting, Gender, and Prolific Profiles in the Songs of 100 Gecs and Alex G”. Horrigan, Matthew Reid. 2025. Rock Music Studies: 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/19401159.2025.2506204.
“Draining a Swamp”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2023. Comparative Media Arts Journal (13). https://www.sfu.ca/cmajournal/issues/issue-thirteen--the-outside/Matt-Horrigan.html.
“Listening to Interruptions: Sonic Dominance and Sonic Norms”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2022. Sound Studies 8 (2): 219–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2022.2107347.
“Playing for the Legend in the Age of Empires II Online Community”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2022. Press Start 8 (1): 20–40. http://press-start.gla.ac.uk/index.php/press-start/article/view/210.
“Nulltopia: Of Disjunct Space”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2022. Acta Ludologica 5 (2): 58–70. https://actaludologica.com/volume-5/.
“The Liminoid in Single-Player Videogaming: A Critical and Collaborative Response to Recent Work on Liminality and Ritual”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2021. Game Studies 21 (2). http://gamestudies.org/2102/articles/horrigan.
“A Flattering Robopocalypse: Human Exclusion and the Procedural Rhetoric of Captcha”. Horrigan, Matthew Reid. 2020. M/C Journal 23 (6). https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2726.

Book Chapters

“Gilded Time: Trophies, Boosting, and Cultural Capital”. Horrigan, Matthew. Forthcoming. In Trophy Cases: The Theory, Design, & Cultural Politics of Video Game Trophies & Achievements, edited by Ryan Scheiding, Dan Staines, and Sarah Christina Ganzon. Bloomsbury.
“Mall Goth Aristocracy: Vampire Students and Class”. Horrigan, Matthew. Accepted. In Vampires and Fashion, edited by Teresa Cutler-Broyles and Lorraine Rumson. Peter Lang.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

“Player as Medium: Games of Mid(dle) Management”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2026. In The Interdisciplinary Journal on Games and Narrative.
“Enormous Fabricated Ability: Boosting in the Battlefront II Player Community”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2023. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2023 Online. https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/download/1968/1967/1964.
“First Glue: Protocolar Power and the Texts of Game Cultures”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2023. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2023 Online. https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/view/2110/2109.
“Interacting with Musebots”. Brown, Andrew R., Matthew Horrigan, Arne Eigenfeldt, Toby Gifford, Daniel Field, and Jon McCormack. 2018. In Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. https://zenodo.org/record/1302659.

Book Reviews

“A Review of Cineworlding: Scenes of Cinematic Research-Creation, by Michael B. MacDonald.”. Horrigan, Matt. 2023. Performance Matters 9 (1-2): 406–408. https://performancematters-thejournal.com/index.php/pm/article/view/471.
“Editorial”. Poirier-Poulin, Samuel, Juan Escobar-Lamana, David ten Cate, Rory Manning Graham, Alex Habgood, Hyerin Shin, Chelsea Russell, and Matt Horrigan. 2025. Press Start 11 (1): 1.
“Editorial: Ten Years of Press Start”. Poirier-Poulin, Samuel, Cassandra Barkman, Andrew Fleshman, Meg Ritchie, Matt Horrigan, Charlotte Courtois, and Olivia Shepard. 2024. Press Start 10 (1): i–iii.
“Puppers Not Yuppers (On Abstractive Mnemonics)”. Horrigan, Matthew Reid. 2022. Society for Ethnomusicology Student News 18 (1). https://www.semsn.com/181-horrigan.
“Aggregate Monsters: Ecologies Challenging Encounters”. Horrigan, Matt. 2021. Analog Game Studies. https://analoggamestudies.org/2021/10/aggregate-monsters-ecologies-challenging-encounters/.
“The Scholar Class in the Tabletop Role-Play Party - First Person Scholar”. Horrigan, Matthew, and Bradley Young. 2020. First Person Scholar. http://www.firstpersonscholar.com/the-scholar-class-in-the-tabletop-role-play-party/.
“Doodling in the Posthuman Corpus”. Horrigan, Matthew. 2017. eContact! 19 (3). https://www.econtact.ca/19_3/horrigan_posthuman.html.

In Preparation

“The Hunger for the Ghosts of səmiq̓ʷəʔelə.” Article in revision for Mediapolis.

“Ludocracy: Gamified Governance in Online Roleplay.” Article for submission to Game Studies.

“Cozy Nightmares.” Journal special issue and article about cozy horror gaming, in preparation with Sara Bimo and Aparajita Bhandari.

Awards

2024
Award for Educational Excellence, Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, Simon Fraser University.
2022
Best Paper, Canadian Game Studies Association Conference.
2018
SOCAN Foundation Awards (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), 3rd Prize, Hugh LeCaine award for electroacoustic composition.
2016
SOCAN Foundation Awards, 2nd Prize, Godfrey Rideout award for vocal composition.
2016
SOCAN Foundation Awards, 3rd Prize, Hugh LeCaine award for electroacoustic composition.

Funding

2024
SFU Dissertation Completion Fellowship (7000 CAD).
2024
SFU Travel and Research Award (1600 CAD).
2024
SFU Humanities Fellowship (7000 CAD).
2023
SFU Travel and Research Awards (1500 CAD).
2022
SFU Transforming Inquiry into Learning and Teaching grant (5000 CAD). Co-applicant with principal investigator Eldritch Priest.
2020–24
SFU Graduate Fellowships (34750 CAD).
2019–20
BC Graduate Scholarships (30000 CAD).
2019
SFU Dean’s Graduate Fellowship (5000 CAD).
2018
CCA (Canada Council for the Arts) Concept to Realization Grant (13000 CAD).
2017
BCAC (BC Arts Council) Early Career Development Grant (8541 CAD).
2016
SSHRC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (5449 CAD).
2015
SSHRC Joseph–Armand Bombardier Graduate Scholarship (17500 CAD).
2015
SFU Travel & Minor Research Award (500 CAD).
2014
McGill University Bernard Shapiro Prize (500 CAD).
2013
McGill University Marion Magor Memorial Scholarship (3400 CAD).
2012
McGill University Schulich School of Music Scholarship (1000 CAD).
2011
McGill University William MacDonald Scholarship in Music (1200 CAD).

Conferencing

Invited Talks

2025
The Nostagain Network, online, July 25.
2022
“DOJRP: A Study in Authoritarian Ethic.” Canadian Game Studies Association Top Paper Panel, online, October 12.

Panels Organized

2025
“Cozy Nightmares: Comfort in Horror Games,” with Aparajita Bhandari and Sara Bimo. Canadian Game Studies Association, online, June 8.

Conference Papers

2025
“Play in Security (or, When Freedom is Overrated).” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Oregon, August 21.
2025
“Can Theory Waste?” Canadian Sociological Association, online, June 13.
2025
“The End of Discursive Economy and the Double Bind of Moral Distinction.” Canadian Sociological Association, online, June 13.
2025
“Player as Medium: Hauntological Security in Games of Middle Management.” Canadian Game Studies Association, online, June 8.
2025
“Critical Thinking in and Through the Discovery Interview.” Private Degree Granting Institutions Association, Vancouver, April 10.
2025
“Player as Medium: Games of Mid(dle) Management.” International Conference on Games and Narrative, online, March 3.
2024
“Tracing Technopacity.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Dallas, Texas, November 7.
2024
“Exhuming Ravenhood.” Canadian Sociological Association, online, June 20.
2024
“Background Figures.” Canadian Sociological Association, online, June 19.
2024
“Industrial Catastrophilia: Perils, Pleasures, Pretermissions.” Film and Media Studies Association of Canada, Concordia University Loyola, Montreal, June 16.
2024
“Narrative Engines: Survival Gameshows, Hollywood Legacies.” Canadian Game Studies Association, Concordia University, Montreal, June 15.
2024
“Crass: For a Labour Anthropology of Dysphemism.” Language Sciences Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Research Day, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, May 10.
2023
“Abject-Curious: Of Unitology.” Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts, Arizona State University, Phoenix, October 29.
2023
Matthew Horrigan and Carina Xu. “Specters of the Civilian: Hauntology versus Militainment.” Canadian Game Studies Association, online, June 6.
2023
“GameSense Does Not Exist: Rogue Alea as Governmentality.” International Communication Association Game Studies Preconference, University of Toronto, Mississauga, May 25.
2023
“From Clandom to Regime: Specters of the ‘Digital Tribe.’” Conduits Graduate Conference, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, May 12.
2022
“Bantering: Recorded Para-Song Vocalizations.” Vicarious Vocalities: Voices in and Out of Place, Newcastle University, online, September 6.
2022
“Paralyzed from the Inside? Nostalgia in Dreampop.” Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic, online, July 30.
2022
“DOJRP: A Study in Authoritarian Ethic.” Canadian Game Studies Association, online, May 30.
2022
“Defending the Sublime: Scary Stories in an Age of Magical Reproduction.” Contemporary Arts Graduate Symposium, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, April 8.
2021
“Social Climate and Collective Entities at War in Age of Empires II.” International Medieval Congress, online, July 7.
2021
“Hauntology, Appropriation and the Aesthetic Apocalypse of an Empire.” Harvard Graduate Music Forum, online, February 19.
2021
Ferguson, Alexander, Patrick Blenkarn, Milton Lim, Maria Horner, and Matthew Horrigan. “Videocan Report 2021: International Attitudes and Regulations on Video Documentation.” Canadian Association for Theatre Research, online, June 26.
2020
“Apocalyptic Fictions, Thanatic Simulations: Videogames and the Figure of Death.” Video Games and Religion: Apocalypse and Utopia, Centre for the Critical Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements, online, November 19.
2020
“State Visioning of the Performing Arts in Canada.” BC Political Studies Association, online, October 16.
2020
“Playing for the Legend.” Digital Heroisms Conference, University of Glasgow, online, August 4.
2017
“Ethics in Contemporary Electroacoustic Music and Its Instruction.” Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium, Toronto, August 10.
2017
“Consenting to Instruction: When Do I Persuade and When Do I Teach?” 16th Annual Symposium on Teaching and Learning, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, May 17.
2015
“The Musical Status Transaction.” Musical Intersections, University of Calgary School of Music, April 18.

Departmental Talks

2024
“Teaching Assistant Skills.” School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University, September 9.

Teaching

Alexander College, Sessional Instructor (in-person)

Simon Fraser University, Sessional Instructor (in-person)

Teaching Assistant at Simon Fraser University

In-person: Filmmaking I (CA 131), Spring 2023, Spring 2022; Digital Media Communication Techniques (CMNS 226), Fall 2022; Fundamentals of Film (CA 130), Fall 2022; The History and Aesthetics of Cinema (CA 136), Fall 2022; Audio Media Analysis (CMNS 257), Spring 2022; Sound Design (IAT 340), Fall 2020; Selected Topics in Art and Culture Studies: Sonic Fiction (CA 312), Fall 2019; Music After 1900 (CA 140), Summer 2017, Fall 2016.

Online synchronous: Introduction to Cinema (CA 135), Summer 2021; Music Composition and Theory (CA 146/246/346), Fall 2020, Spring 2021.

Online asynchronous: Contexts in Creative Music & Sound (CA 140), Summer 2023, Fall 2022; Film Music (CA 386), Summer 2021; 20th Century Music Appreciation (CA 142), Summer 2020; Music Fundamentals (CA 104), Summer 2022, Summer 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2017, Summer 2016.

Consultant Course Developer

Inclusive Interpersonal Communications, Alexander College (CMNS 2XX, developed summer 2024).

Mentorship and Tutoring

Mentor, Faculty of Communication, Art, and Technology mentorship program (SFU), 2025. Tutor, piano and music theory, five students, 2006–18.

Research Assistant Experience

2023–24
“Reading Modalities: Conditions of Interface Between Student and Text.” Funding: Transforming Inquiry into Teaching and Learning, Simon Fraser University. Principal investigator: Eldritch Priest. As a collaborator, I analyzed student experience data.
2021
“Videocan.” Funding: Digital Strategy Fund, Canada Council for the Arts. Principal investigator: Patrick Blenkarn. As a research assistant, I conducted archival research of union contracts and performance documentation regulations.
2017
“Collaborative musical composition and performance with creative agents.” Funding: Insight Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Principal investigator: Arne Eigenfeldt. As a research assistant, I designed and developed interactive music software using Max/MSP and Node.js.
2014–15
“The poetics of image, sound, computation and flow in the creation of generative time-based art.” Funding: Insight Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Principal investigator: James Bizzocchi. As a research assistant, I reviewed musical emotion literature.

Service

To the Profession

2015–26
Peer review: New Media and Society, Continuum, Television and New Media, M/C Journal, Press Start, Comparative Media Arts Journal, SAGE Open; International Conference on Games and Narrative (ICGaN) 2025; Canadian Game Studies Association (CGSA) 2025, 2024, 2023; Foundations of Digital Games (FDG) 2021; Musical Metacreation Workshop (MUME) 2015.
2025
Prospectus review: Routledge.
2023–25
Editorial board member: Press Start.
2022–24
Panel chair: Canadian Game Studies Association Conference (4 panels).
2023
Conference organizer: The New Daydream Imaginary, SFU, June 15–17.
2023
Conference committee: Canadian Game Studies Association.

To the Institution

2025
Student Voices III Conference Planning Committee, Alexander College.
2024
Strategic Planning Committee, Social Sciences Department, Alexander College.
2023–24
Advisory Committee, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, SFU.
2020
Advisory Committee, Covid Safety Plan, School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU.
2015–16
Chair, Graduate Student Caucus, School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU.

To the Community

2018
Host, The Arts Rational, CFRO 100.FM Vancouver Co-op Radio.
2017–18
Board Member, Vancouver Pro Musica.
2016–17
Organizer, Co.Crea.Tive Performance Art Collective (Vancouver).
2015–17
Host, re:composition, CFRO 100.FM Vancouver Co-op Radio.
2013–14
Editor, The Phonograph newspaper, Schulich School of Music, McGill University.

Art

As Project Lead

2025
“Devin’s,” “the sky a silver,” “Loved an Image”—three songs created as part of a larger audio project, No Phenomenon.
2022
Rock walls and damp—these match our dream; but, Rector, the cold is new, interactive digital narrative, Small File Media Festival, online, August.
2018
Monsterkill 5: ReMonsterkilled, stage play, 1h20m, Havana Theatre, Vancouver, October.
2018
Quanta/Qualia (Ambient Academia), ambient work for loudspeakers & video, 3h, Nightshift: Quantum Futures, UBC Museum of Anthropology, April 5.
2018
Heavy Traffic, electric guitarist Graham Banfield & subwoofers, 25m, Canadian Music Centre, Toronto, August 11.
2017
Hewn from Living Rock, guitarist Adrian Verdejo & loudspeakers, 10m, Play Nice at Sawdust Collector, Vancouver, July 28.
2017
Follow Turtle Chase Leaf, for chamber ensemble Ecstatic Waves, 30m, 240 Northern Street, Vancouver, June 23; reworked as Around the House for chamber ensemble, 11m, Boca da Lupo, Vancouver, October 13.
2017
Apple Season, stage play reading, 1h20m, Carousel Theatre, Vancouver, August 6.
2017
Assimilations, for pianist Beatrice de Trenqualye, 10m; and 100, 91, 84, 81, 72, 69, 58, 44, 37, 38, 42, 21, 28, 12, 7, for pianist Nadia Schibli, 10m30s, Canadian Music Centre, Vancouver, July 5.
2017
Why——, voice & chamber group Erato Ensemble, 7m30s, Sonic Boom festival, The Annex, Vancouver, March 19.
2016
Gourd Motor Mindscape, classical guitar & surface transducer, 10m50s, Canadian Music Centre, Toronto, December; Clara Lichtenstein Hall, Montreal, January 19, 2017; Canadian Music Centre, Vancouver, March 15, 2017; Martin Batchelor Gallery, Victoria, April 19, 2018.
2016
Feral Instruments, loudspeakers & mechatronic instruments, 14m04s, Djavid Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Vancouver, December 3.
2016
Don’t Make Me Talk About Politics, guitar & surface transducer, 10m, The Gold Saucer, Vancouver, October 24.
2016
Flatness, spoken word & loudspeakers, co-created with Julia Siedlanowska, 1h10m, SFU Woodward’s Soundstage, Vancouver, August 25–26.
2016
Return Main, chamber ensemble, 5m19s, 918 Bathurst Centre, Toronto, June 24.
2016
Swear Jar, drums, choreography & telematic audio, 12m, co-created with Minah Lee & Maren Lisac, VIVO Media Arts Centre, Vancouver, June 3.
2016
Domestic Instruments, loudspeakers, 9m26s, SFU Woodward’s Studio T, Vancouver, April 15.
2015
Kyrie, vocalist Dorothea Hayley & loudspeakers, 18m50s, SFU Woodward’s Studio T, Vancouver, April 24–25.
2015
In the Minimal Senses, loudspeakers, 7m59s, Western Front, Vancouver, November 22.
2015
Sonatinas, piano, 6m30s; Three Songs, voice & piano, 3m; Serial Box, chamber ensemble, 4m30s; Dissonant Disco, Merge, Vancouver, August 15.
2014
juxtapositions, collisions, juxtapositions “between” objects, collisions, McGill Brass Ensemble, 7m5s, Pollack Hall, Montreal, April 30.
2013
Terms of Entwinement, saxophone & percussion, 3m20s, Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, July 22.
2013
(avec nous) dans la rue, cello, 59s, Jan Hus United Church, New York, May 19; Virtual Concert Halls, online, August 15, 2020.
2013
In Prophecy, trumpet & loudspeakers, 8m, Tanna Schulich Hall, Montreal, April 7–8.
2013
Noisekiller, McGill Brass Ensemble, 45s, Redpath Hall, Montreal, November 24.
2012
Immurement, loudspeakers, 5m7s, Clara Lichtenstein Hall, Montreal, December 5.

As Contributor

Audio

2022
Composer, An Honourable Man, short film directed by Ryan Curtis, Run N Gun 48-hour Film Festival, Vancouver.
2021
Composer, Sen Nemuri, stage play directed by Kanon Hewitt & Julia Siedlanowska, June–July, workshop at Carousel Theatre, Vancouver.
2021
Sound Designer, Attachment Theory Through the Lens of a Bear, audio play created by Julia Siedlanowska, April, Hive Performance Collective, Vancouver.
2020
Composer, Nom Nom Gnomes, audio play directed by Manami Hara & Kanon Hewitt, December, Carousel Theatre, Vancouver.
2020
Sound Designer, Beirut, stage play directed by Louisa Phung, October, Vancouver Fringe.
2020
Composer, Date Night Facades, short film directed by Yvonne Chapman, April.
2019
Sound Designer, Unsettled, Theatre Terrific, KW Studios, Vancouver, July.
2018
Composer, Sonata d’été, dance duet, 8m10s, choreographed by Marc Arboleda, November 23–24, Kababayang Pilipino, The Vancouver Playhouse.
2017
Sound Designer, ROAD, stage play, 10m, directed by Davey Calderon, About Love Festival, Havana Theatre, Vancouver, June 13–17.
2017
Composer, The Green Wanderer, Vancouver Polish Theatre, May–August.
2017
Composer, Pas de Deux, dance duet, 5m, choreographed by Marc Arboleda, The Gold Saucer, Vancouver, April 15–16.
2017
Composer, Plus Ultra, solo dance, 9m50s, choreographed by Marc Arboleda, Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre, Vancouver, March 2–3.
2016
Composer, “The Exquisite Corpse,” MAYCE Dance, The Beaumont, Vancouver, January 29; Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Vancouver, April 6–9, 2016.

Video

2016
Projection Designer, Any Night, Stone’s Throw Theatre, Vancouver, June.
2015–16
Software Developer, Musebot Chill-Out Session, generative music project directed by Arne Eigenfeldt. Presented at ISEA 2015 (Vancouver), SMC 2016 (Hamburg), NIME 2016 (Brisbane).
2015
Software Developer, Fake Gems, performance directed by The Party, Inter-Urban Gallery, Vancouver, August 28.

Performer

2008–18
Drummer: Harley Small, Vancouver, 2017–18; Dumbpop, Vancouver, April 2018; Reagan Mutt, Vancouver, March–April 2018; Sister Island, Montreal, 2011–14; Arpa Nova Ensemble, Ottawa, 2008–10.
2017
Actor, Dark Matter, interactive play directed by Mily Mumford, The James Black Gallery, Vancouver, October–November.

Technician & Labour

2018–21
BC motion picture industry: craftsperson (IATSE 891 permittee lamp operator, set dresser, construction labourer) & production assistant (Director’s Guild of Canada BC permittee locations production assistant and van driver).
2019
Greater Vancouver live entertainment industry: stagehand (IATSE 118 permittee).

Professional Development in Teaching

2025
Alexander College Teaching Online Certificate (ACTOC).
2024
Effective Learning Management System Design (E-LMS), Alexander College.
2022
Certificate in University Teaching and Learning, Simon Fraser University.
2017
Instructional Skills Workshop, Simon Fraser University.
2014
Elementary Piano Pedagogy Certificate, Royal Conservatory of Music.

Memberships

Languages

Software and Programming Languages

HTML, CSS, JavaScript (Node.js), Lua, PHP, Max/MSP; various digital audio workstations (Reaper, Ableton, Pro Tools…), non-linear editing applications (Resolve, Premiere, Final Cut…), music scoring applications (MuseScore, Finale…), productivity tools (Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Zotero…), learning management systems (Canvas) and content management systems (WordPress), with ability to learn, script, and integrate additional software as needed.