Liel Leibovitz is a visiting assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt, focusing primarily on the video game and interactive media research and theory. Having received his PhD from Columbia University in 2007, Leibovitz continues to study the ontology of electronic gameplay, exploring such diverse issues as human-machine interaction, gaming and the con­struction of player subjectivity, and representations of death and violence in video games. He is a member of the advisory board of the New York chapter of the Digital Games Research Association, a founding member of the NYU Faculty Council on Games, and a member of the academic advisory board of the American Jewish Historical Society. He is also the author or co-author of several books, including, most recently, The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and the Ordeals of Divine Election, co-written with Todd Gitlin, as well as a contributor to newspapers and magazines such as the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Dissent, and Tablet.

“Many dismiss video games as a worthless pursuit, and some even go so far as to consider them a harmful and addictive activity that sets individuals towards violence. Liel Leibovitz defies those assumptions while explaining gaming’s allure and place in the world . . . this work is a thoughtful, well-written, and concise scholarly analysis of a popular pastime. As such, it is a recommended resource for college and university libraries.”-Sarah E. Keil, Trevecca Nazarene University, The Christian Librarian“Leibovitz’s book is brief but wildly ambitious, studded with references unexpected in writing on this subject.”-New York Review of Books“God in the Machine shows depth as well as breadth. It would be a fitting addition to a book discussion group or theological reading circle. Whether you come to the same conclusions as the author did or not, God in the Machine will change the way you see gaming from here on out. I recommend the book.”-Michael Philliber "Liel Leibovitz has thought more deeply than anyone I know about the meaning of video games; he has managed to persuade me, without overloading my circuits, that they belong not to the seventh circle of hell-where I’d consigned them- but to the great American tradition that turns a dark theology of sin into redemptive popular entertainment."-Jonathan Rosen, author of The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds

Liel Leibovitz is a visiting assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt, focusing primarily on the video game and interactive media research and theory. Having received his PhD from Columbia University in 2007, Leibovitz continues to study the ontology of electronic gameplay, exploring such diverse issues as human-machine interaction, gaming and the con­struction of player subjectivity, and representations of death and violence in video games. He is a member of the advisory board of the New York chapter of the Digital Games Research Association, a founding member of the NYU Faculty Council on Games, and a member of the academic advisory board of the American Jewish Historical Society. He is also the author or co-author of several books, including, most recently, The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and the Ordeals of Divine Election, co-written with Todd Gitlin, as well as a contributor to newspapers and magazines such as the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Dissent, and Tablet.

“Many dismiss video games as a worthless pursuit, and some even go so far as to consider them a harmful and addictive activity that sets individuals towards violence. Liel Leibovitz defies those assumptions while explaining gaming’s allure and place in the world . . . this work is a thoughtful, well-written, and concise scholarly analysis of a popular pastime. As such, it is a recommended resource for college and university libraries.”-Sarah E. Keil, Trevecca Nazarene University, The Christian Librarian“Leibovitz’s book is brief but wildly ambitious, studded with references unexpected in writing on this subject.”-New York Review of Books“God in the Machine shows depth as well as breadth. It would be a fitting addition to a book discussion group or theological reading circle. Whether you come to the same conclusions as the author did or not, God in the Machine will change the way you see gaming from here on out. I recommend the book.”-Michael Philliber "Liel Leibovitz has thought more deeply than anyone I know about the meaning of video games; he has managed to persuade me, without overloading my circuits, that they belong not to the seventh circle of hell-where I’d consigned them- but to the great American tradition that turns a dark theology of sin into redemptive popular entertainment."-Jonathan Rosen, author of The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds

Liel Leibovitz is a visiting assistant professor at NYU Steinhardt, focusing primarily on the video game and interactive media research and theory. Having received his PhD from Columbia University in 2007, Leibovitz continues to study the ontology of electronic gameplay, exploring such diverse issues as human-machine interaction, gaming and the con­struction of player subjectivity, and representations of death and violence in video games. He is a member of the advisory board of the New York chapter of the Digital Games Research Association, a founding member of the NYU Faculty Council on Games, and a member of the academic advisory board of the American Jewish Historical Society. He is also the author or co-author of several books, including, most recently, The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and the Ordeals of Divine Election, co-written with Todd Gitlin, as well as a contributor to newspapers and magazines such as the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Dissent, and Tablet.

“Many dismiss video games as a worthless pursuit, and some even go so far as to consider them a harmful and addictive activity that sets individuals towards violence. Liel Leibovitz defies those assumptions while explaining gaming’s allure and place in the world . . . this work is a thoughtful, well-written, and concise scholarly analysis of a popular pastime. As such, it is a recommended resource for college and university libraries.”-Sarah E. Keil, Trevecca Nazarene University, The Christian Librarian“Leibovitz’s book is brief but wildly ambitious, studded with references unexpected in writing on this subject.”-New York Review of Books“God in the Machine shows depth as well as breadth. It would be a fitting addition to a book discussion group or theological reading circle. Whether you come to the same conclusions as the author did or not, God in the Machine will change the way you see gaming from here on out. I recommend the book.”-Michael Philliber "Liel Leibovitz has thought more deeply than anyone I know about the meaning of video games; he has managed to persuade me, without overloading my circuits, that they belong not to the seventh circle of hell-where I’d consigned them- but to the great American tradition that turns a dark theology of sin into redemptive popular entertainment."-Jonathan Rosen, author of The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds