Orçun Can is a lecturer in the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London. His research and teaching focus on the intersections of digital storytelling, media theory, and the evolving cultures of online platforms. With a background in narratology and the digital economy, he is particularly interested in how stories are shaped, distributed, and experienced in interactive and networked environments.

Currently, Orçun’s work examines game development processes, with an emphasis on how production practices, devlogs, and collaborative design spaces contribute to emerging forms of narrative and play. Alongside this, he writes extensively on internet television, narrative form, and the creative industries.

In addition to his academic role, Orçun is an active writer for film, television, and literature, bringing creative practice into dialogue with scholarly research. He also is a professional dungeon master / game master, exploring how role-playing games can expand understandings of storytelling, world-building, and interactivity.

Research interests and PhD supervision

• Digital storytelling
• Internet TV
• Video game development
• Streaming platform

Orçun is interested in digital storytelling both on the side of creators and the broader context of industries and economies. He is specifically interested in televisual forms and video game development processes.

Teaching

Orçun teaches across the Digital Humanities curriculum, introducing students to critical debates in media theory, digital culture, and creative practice. His modules explore how stories are told and experienced in interactive environments—from internet television to games—and encourage students to combine analytical skills with hands-on engagement. He places particular emphasis on connecting theory with practice, helping students understand not only how media works but also how it is made. He has been nominated for a King's Excellence Award for teaching in 2021 and 2025.

Expertise and public engagement 

Orçun’s expertise is in digital storytelling and Video-on-Demand (SVOD) platforms. He has appeared in Turkish television on issues of regulating internet television.

Selected publications

(2021) The Bingeable Ms. Gilmore: A Comparative Structural Narrative Analysis Between Gilmore Girls and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, Binge-watching and Contemporary Television. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 236-249.