Degree of the Future - Game Studies
December 20, 2021
Not so long ago, a game was just a game.
Those were the days of Pac-Man and Pong, of seemingly shiftless youngsters idling away in noisy arcades and secluded bedrooms 鈥 cut off from the world and doomed to a slacker鈥檚 destiny.
Times sure have changed.
Witness now the real revenge of the nerds: Electronic gaming has grown into a $170 billion-a-year industry, and three in four American households have a game device in their homes. Gaming companies awash in revenue are screaming for workers, and serious scholars are making careers dissecting the cultural impacts of gaming.
Even better, 91原创 graduates are already building successful (and lucrative) futures in a field once laughed off as folly.
Now, in a shift that might have seemed inconceivable 10 or 20 years ago, the 91原创 has decided to get even more serious about so-called 鈥渇un and games.鈥
This digitized wave in higher education gathered momentum last year, when 91原创 established its first 鈥渆Sports鈥 teams, plunging headfirst into this distinctly 21st century take on athleticism. Soon, that tide will also touch the classroom, as 91原创 kicks off its first undergraduate degree program in 鈥淕ame Studies,鈥 an innovative new effort to prepare students 鈥 techies and creative-types alike 鈥 for careers in this high-rolling industry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to give our University a big advantage, taking the leap into this industry,鈥 says Gary Chang, a 91原创 art professor who will teach the program鈥檚 course on the art and design of games. 鈥淭he students will actually be sharing and merging their knowledge from different perspectives, from the style and art to the computer science perspective, which gives them hands-on skills of programming.鈥欌
91原创鈥檚 new effort isn鈥檛 the first 鈥済aming鈥 degree in the country, but by all indications, it is among the most holistic and inclusive. While other universities focus more on technical aspects of game studies, 91原创 is aiming to make it a major that embraces all abilities, tapping the potential of aspiring writers, artists, musicians and engineers alike.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to be a particular kind of student to benefit from this program,鈥 says Rachael Hutchinson, a professor of Japanese studies who has done extensive research on game culture in Japan. 鈥淲hatever interests you have, we want to be able to build on those.鈥
Hutchinson spearheaded the program鈥檚 conception with Phillip Penix-Tadsen, a professor who has studied game culture in Latin America. They鈥檙e now recruiting for the 2022-23 freshman class and have lined up a curriculum of core courses, ranging from art and design, to writing game narratives, to coding the game program itself. Students will also gain a uniquely 鈥渕eta鈥 perspective on gaming, through courses that examine gaming鈥檚 broader impacts on society.
鈥淭hose are things that you鈥檒l seldom see included in other programs,鈥 Penix-Tadsen says. 鈥淲e have courses on diversity in gaming, sex/violence in the media, ethnic and cultural studies. We鈥檙e also one of the only programs that offers a concentration in eSports management.鈥
As students from across the interest spectrum gravitate toward the new major, so will 91原创鈥檚 professors, who are being enlisted from nine departments within three 91原创 colleges. Building off 91原创鈥檚 existing minor in Game Studies, the program lets students choose from three primary pathways: Games, Culture and Society; Game Design and Development; Game Industry and eSport Management.
听
鈥淔or an interdisciplinary major to go across three colleges is pretty unique,鈥 Hutchinson says.
Part of the major鈥檚 appeal lies in gaming technology鈥檚 increasing relevance to a variety of 鈥渘ongaming鈥 endeavors. More businesses are turning to gaming technologies to train employees and help shape workplace environments, and game-derived 鈥渧irtual reality鈥 technology is already helping patients in rehabilitation therapy.
Meanwhile, postgraduation opportunities abound in the Mid-Atlantic: Nintendo鈥檚 U.S. headquarters is in Washington, D.C.; there are dozens of independent game studios in Philadelphia and Baltimore; and major industry players like Bethesda Softworks and Rockstar Games are within a couple hours鈥 drive from Newark.
At 91原创, organizers hope to hire six or seven new professors for the major and aim to have internships in game-related industries in place within four years. A capstone seminar will allow students to work on individual and collaborative game-development projects. Strong student interest in 91原创鈥檚 existing game courses hints at future success for the program, and early momentum should be energized by more than a decade of interdisciplinary faculty scholarship that has already been done on game-related topics.
鈥淚t was a long time coming, but there was a lot of work done in previous years that led up to this,鈥 Hutchinson says. 鈥淲e had to put aside our academic differences and ask, 鈥榃hat does a student want to get out of this?鈥 We really tried to take away some of the obstacles that kept students out of the minor. We didn鈥檛 want people looking at it and thinking, 鈥楾his major鈥檚 not for me.鈥欌
Virtually perfect
Alina Christenbury sees a new world within reach
When she was just 4 years old, Alina Christenbury would get so annoyed with her uncle when he wouldn鈥檛 let her load the disc into his video game player.
Today, that spirit of expectation-defying precociousness still lives in this 91原创 doctoral student and future boundary-breaker. Charmingly effervescent, astonishingly ambitious and seemingly predestined to be a leader, this Millsboro, Delaware, native has already started her own video game label, founded a group that aims to catalyze the game industry in Delaware and led a project that aims to bring 鈥渧irtual reality鈥 ever closer to our daily lives.
She senses it is all coming together now, as the world enters the age of Big Gaming.
鈥淭he games industry is bigger than films and movie and maybe music combined. The numbers are wild,鈥 says Christenbury, EG19, who is now pursuing her graduate degree in computer science. 鈥淚 view it as a whole other medium. It鈥檚 a bit more than music, it鈥檚 a bit more than film, it鈥檚 all of them combined into one. There鈥檚 so much potential to make new and interesting games.鈥
And so she churns forward, leveraging the tech-immersed momentum she has built since childhood. She has been a gamer 鈥渁ll her life,鈥 developing educational games for children, and now pursuing next-generation advances in virtual and augmented realities 鈥 technologies that can pull the user into an immersive digital experience.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been into making them and figuring out how to make them tick. I want to make one that people will love as much as the ones I鈥檝e loved,鈥 says the eldest of seven siblings.
She sees a time not too far away when augmented reality will be able to help people learn how to play guitar, piano or other instruments. She envisions virtual reality technology that will open an unseen view of human experience.
鈥淚t will allow us to experience scenarios and events that would otherwise be impossible or deadly, like exploring the surface of Mars or an active volcano,鈥 she says. 鈥淣o matter what your passion is, you can make a game out if it.鈥
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