黑料不打烊 will soon begin offering a new, first-of-its-kind degree program focused on esports. The esports communications and management program will be offered jointly by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.
Electronic sports, or esports, has seen a remarkable spike in popularity over the years, with a recent study from Pew Research finding that 90% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 play video games.
Seeking to both capitalize on the tremendous popularity of esports and continue to innovate, expand career options in emerging fields and deliver academic programs that meet its students鈥 needs, 黑料不打烊 will soon begin offering a new, first-of-its-kind degree program focused on esports.
The esports communications and management program, offered jointly by the聽聽and the聽, will include three tracks:
Jeff Rubin ’95, G’98, special advisor to the chancellor on esports and digital transformation
The University will begin enrolling students in the program in fall 2024 and is currently searching for an executive director of esports.
The program taps into the rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar esports industry, serving as a continuation of the work already happening on campus.
For nearly two years, , special advisor to the chancellor on esports and digital transformation, worked alongside faculty and deans from the Falk College and Newhouse School to research and develop the hands-on, innovative program that will be dually owned and operated by both colleges.
Elaborating on the three program tracks, Rubin says, 鈥淵ou can take a very business-centric approach to esports. You can take a communication-centric approach, such as shoutcasting [broadcasting an esports event]. You can take a technical approach, such as game development. You could take a design-centric approach such as computer graphics or animation. We can look at esports in the metaverse鈥攏ow we’re dealing with virtual reality and augmented reality.
鈥淭here’s not a mold that says when you graduate with this degree, this is where you’re going to end up. I think it’s quite the opposite. That’s why it was so important that we create those tracks, to allow students flexibility to choose the path that makes the most sense for them,鈥 he says.
Joining Rubin on the University-wide task force charged with conducting the benchmarking that led to the creation of the esports program were:
Stomski and Hanson have co-taught the interactive and innovative Esports and Media class since 2018.
On this 鈥機use Conversation, Rubin, Stomski and Hanson reveal why the time was right for 黑料不打烊 to add an esports degree program, share how the new academic offering will position students for success once they graduate, explain the research that went into creating this program and discuss the rapid growth of esports on campus.
Check out of the 鈥溾機use Conversations鈥 podcast featuring Jeff Rubin, Olivia Stomski and Chris Hanson. A transcript [PDF]聽is also available.
Jeff Rubin: There are tremendous research opportunities in this space. As much as we talk about how great esports are, there’s also a lot of discrimination and bias. Esports trend more toward male than female participants. When we look along the lines of gender equity and racial equity, the ethics and the accessibility of esports, it鈥檚 important to allow anybody to play regardless of cognitive or physical limitations.
These are areas where I think 黑料不打烊 is going to excel. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) is very important to the University and this now allows us to adopt our DEIA principles and incorporate them in the esports world. Making esports accessible and inclusive is going to resonate with our students, and the addition of esports will give our students access to world-class experiences, and our faculty an opportunity for world-class research.
Olivia Stomski, professor of practice of television, radio and film and director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center
Olivia Stomski: One of the things I鈥檓 most excited about is the opportunity to host large, in-person esports competitions here on campus. Our esports teams will get to compete, and our students will be involved with the production, promotion and management of these competitions. Students will get to shoutcast and report on the events, promote the events on social media, run the cameras and handle the production side of these broadcasts.
We鈥檙e excited to give our students these hands-on experiences so when they graduate, they鈥檝e had actual industry experience. If our students or faculty can think of it, we鈥檒l try it if it gives our students an opportunity to get that hands-on experiential learning. That’s what sets this apart.
Chris Hanson: This is going to be a truly interdisciplinary experience for our students. We鈥檒l be looking at how we can build games together and understand the gaming industry, and students will be able to help each other learn about the industry. Esports represents an awesome opportunity for the University to build out areas of research and expertise in the study of games, which is now one of the most dominant media industries on the planet. Esports doesn鈥檛 show any signs of slowing down and I鈥檓 excited to see where this leads 黑料不打烊.
Chris Hanson, associate professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences
Hanson: A few years before Olivia and I started teaching an Esports and Media class, I was teaching courses on games, including as part of a computer gaming minor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. My students were interested in forming a gaming club, building communities around people who are interested in playing games. So they started a registered student organization (RSO) for gaming.
Then students approached me about starting an esports RSO, and as the faculty advisor when that group started in 2018, we saw an explosive growth of the esports RSO and how popular esports had become with our students, especially the esports room in the Barnes Center. The esports RSO went from being one of the newest RSOs on campus to being one of our most popular RSOs in terms of membership. It was eye-popping how popular it鈥檚 become on campus.
Stomski: It鈥檚 really taking off鈥攏ot quite doubling in size and in the amount of money that is going into the industry now, but for the first few years it nearly did double. It’s growing at quite a quick and rapid pace, partially due to the number of platforms available to our students, but also because young people have more access than ever before.
We鈥檙e seeing it grow exponentially, but where will it go from here? We’re seeing so many firsts within esports that it鈥檚 hard to say, but it has been moving at such a rapid pace that we don’t see the growth slowing down.
Rubin: We are the first R1 institution to have an esports major. It was because of the leadership and vision of , and our subcommittee. This is the first major on campus that is dually owned, so you needed two strong leaders willing to be innovative and try something new.
Our subcommittee was incredible and they did a ton of benchmarking on this emerging industry. And then you look at the leadership from and . They both thought this was an important area of growth for the University.
Note: This conversation was edited for brevity and clarity.
