CCI has its roots in the arts and humanities and explores industries such as fashion, film and television, music, museums, performing arts, publishing, and tourism. With the rise of the digital economy, CCI has grown to encompass video games, influencer culture and digital storytelling. Beyond specific industries, CCI investigates the principle of creativity, including how creative thinking is used to solve problems, communicate complex ideas, and explore new ways of working.
The study of CCI at Chapman is globally connected and locally engaged. We explore how the Creative and Cultural Industries respond to major issues such as social justice movements and the climate crisis, while considering how creativity can help improve our cities and benefit our emotional wellbeing. We partner with cultural and educational institutions in Southern California to pursue hands-on research and teaching.
Dr. Patrick Fuery is a graduate of Murdoch University, Australia, with a BA (Hons),
MPhil and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He has held posts at the University of
London (Royal Holloway College), Sussex University, and the University of Newcastle
(Australia). He is the author of eight books and has been translated into Chinese,
Italian, French, and Korean. His most recent book is Madness and Cinema. His research
interests include psychoanalysis, semiotics, literary and cultural theory, gender
studies, film and visual studies, medicine and the arts. He is currently completing
two books: a study on cultural disturbance and the sublime; and an edited collection
on medicine, culture, and the arts.
Dr. Kelli Fuery completed her B.A. (Hons) at Macquarie University in Critical and
Cultural Studies, graduating in 1995 with First Class Honors. Before joining Chapman
University, she held posts in contemporary film, media and cultural studies at Monash
University; the University of Newcastle, Australia; and in the (now) School of Film,
Media and Cultural Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London. She completed
her PhD (2005) at Murdoch University in Critical Theory, Film and Visual Culture.
Her research explores why we mediate the world around us in the ways that we do, examining
how our inner worlds influence the social and cultural contexts which influence our
choices. Focusing on various modes within visual culture, Fuery is interested in the
poisoning and mechanics of power and knowledge, the assembly and dismantling of structures,
and the role ethics plays in the exchange of aesthesis. She is the author of five
books, including
Catherine Acosta is an archivist, educator, and historian in Los Angeles, CA. She
is currently the Product Archivist and Historian for the iconic Southern California
footwear and action sports brand Vans, a VF Company. Previously, she was a Teaching
Assistant at Parsons School of Design and a Curatorial Fellow at Cooper Hewit, Smithsonian
Design Museum in New York City. She holds an MA in the History of Design and Curatorial
Studies from Parsons School of Design (2019) and a BFA in Video Art from the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago (2006). Catherine specializes in 20th-century American
Design and Popular Culture. 
John Blaylock holds an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at New
York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently a resident writer and
literary manager for Broadway On Tour Youth Theatre (BOT) in Santa Ana, CA, and and
in 2017 helped open California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley (CSArts-SGV)
and served as the Director of Creative Writing there for six years. He now continues
to teach creative writing at CSArts-SGV and serves as a Guest Musical Director at
McCoy Rigby Arts in Yorba Linda, CA. He has had work produced by La Jolla Playhouse,
Blindspot Collective, Surflight Theatre, Sesame Street Live, Common Man Musicals,
Orange County School of the Arts, and Phoenix Theatre Company.
Ali (Alicia) Boyce (she/her) tends to Tongva land in Anaheim, California. She is a
cis-Queer, Black/biracial abolitionist, wife, mom, plant mom, writer, artist, dance
lover, sci-fi nerd, intersectional feminist, and rootworker. Ali holds an MSW, from
USC, as well as an MA and PhD in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University.
In 2024 Ali completed her dissertation on Black diaspora and a theory she coined called
the foster care diaspora (FCD). This project mapped and explored how each diaspora
correlates with the reproductive health, social representations and constructions
of Black women figures throughout the Black diaspora, who are consistently impacted
by global foster care and transnational adoption systems. Ali’s writing and pedagogy
places an emphasis on Black feminist theory, abolitionist frameworks, Black diaspora,
geography, historiography, Marxist and Black Marxist theories, and concepts of radical
rootworking and healing from the root.
Mr. Haley graduated with a B.A. in English from California State University Fullerton
and received his Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from National University.
He is the co-host of two independent podcasts, and producer of an additional two shows.
He has also written and taught several podcasting workshops with his podcasting partner,
and Chapman University Alum, Mike Gravagno. Currently Mr. Haley teaches multiple classes
through the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at Chapman University in the
areas of Podcasting and Content Creation.
Ms. Halverson has been with Chapman University for 17 years, 15 of which have been
with Wilkinson College, and has been working with the Creative and Cultural Studies
Initiative here at Chapman from its beginning. A graduate of the University of San
Francisco with a BA in History, she also holds a Certificate in Arts Management from
UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business and Claire Trevor School of the Arts. Ms.
Halverson is always happy to meet and discuss the Center or the Minor, the easiest
way to reach her is via email to make an appointment.