James Perla

James Perla is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at the University of Maryland, College Park with a certificate in Digital Studies. His research project investigates how contemporary novelists represent creative labor in the millennial era. Engaging with the representation of freelancers, bedroom musicians, entrepreneurial producers, temp workers, and influencers, the dissertation probes the racial, gendered, and affective politics of work in the 21st century Internet economy. James’ most recent publication is an exhibition review for the June 2025 issue of Screen Bodies.

In addition to his dissertation project, James explores issues of digital technology through applied arts-based research methods. He was awarded funding by UMD’s Arts for All to create an interactive exhibition entitled “Prompt Generation,” which engaged with the emergent trend in large-language models to invite visitors to define keywords about artificial intelligence alongside algorithmically-generated responses. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues from Virginia Tech, Texas A&M University, and The University of Texas, Arlington and was showcased at Virginia Tech’s Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology (ICAT) in October 2023.

James is currently working on two ongoing projects: a digital archive about the musical artist “Perssoa” and an online Zine about digital minimalism. His work on digital minimalism recently received funding through an Automating Black Joy grant, sponsored by the Black Communications and Technology Lab (BCaT) at the University of Maryland and the inter-institutional collaborative research network known as the DISCO (Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism) Network.