This interdisciplinary minor prepares students to engage in the gaming and esports industries by providing a broad understanding of videogames and esports. This robust suite of courses highlights the diverse expertise UNCG provides students looking to level-up their education and training. With skills gained from both critical reflection and hands on experience, the minor places students at the forefront of the rapidly changing world of gaming.
Electives are offered in a diverse range of departments, including Art, Classical Studies, Communication Studies, Community and Therapeutic Recreation, English, Information and Analytics, Media Studies, Music, and Religious Studies.
Undergraduate
Minor
15
Bachelor of Arts
5 courses (15 credit hours) comprised of 1 required core course and 4 electives; courses may be taken in any order
On Campus
Videogaming and Esports Studies Undergraduate Minor
This course analyzes video gaming and esports cultures and values, as well as how they interact with
society in general. This course teaches students the history, methodology, and theoretical approaches to
videogaming and esports from various fields and disciplines.
Visit the Network for the Cultural Study of Videogaming for more information.
Introduction to basic concepts and techniques of three-dimensional modeling within a digital environment.
Introduction to basic concepts and techniques of three-dimensional animation within a digital environment.
An exploration of games and video games from and about Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East, and what those games tell us about peoples, the things they value, and the way they see their world.
Examination of personal, philosophical, socio-cultural, economic, behavioral, and historical dimensions of leisure; evolution of leisure lifestyles; exploration of the interrelationship between individuals, groups, and society in the context of leisure.
Awareness of and sensitivity to the needs of people with disabilities and other disenfranchised individuals with regard to planning, delivering, and evaluating recreation/leisure services in the community.
Study of elements necessary to manage and operate an event business; emphasis on development and presentation of event proposals, customer service, fee structures, event design, risk management, and legal issues.
In this course, students will examine how traditional elements of storytelling—such as character development, theme, world-building, and plot—can be augmented with interactive and/or multisensory narrative techniques. Students will develop their own multimodal projects, which may include graphic stories, audio stories, podcast and videogame scripts, and hypertext writing.
In this course, students will interrogate and compare constructions of “monsters” and “heroes” in video games and literature through the application of critical theories of race, gender, and sexuality.
This course introduces students to fundamental social science concepts and approaches through the lens of games. The course covers what makes games learnable, the information practices and techniques involved in game design and play, and various strategies for preserving games by cultural heritage institutions.
This course integrates the application of video production techniques and digital storytelling fundamentals to sports media, including eSports/ESL. In addition, the course critically analyzes the conceptual frames and themes of sport media “texts” as well as how they impact and are impacted by beliefs about gender, race, and culture.
Study of selected topics in fictive or non-fictive programming for the electronic media including genres, delivery systems, or other emphasis.
Hands-on introduction to using computers to create music. Topics include sequencing, editing, sampling, and looping. Software includes Garage Band, Logic Express, Reason, and Audacity.
This course introduces critical issues in and approaches to religion and popular culture from around the world. Examining a series of case studies drawn from film, television, popular music, video games, and consumer culture, it considers what counts as religion and how people use spirituality in their daily lives.
Using a wide range of topics, analytical theories and methods, as well as ethical perspectives, the course introduces students to the concept of evil, digital media, networked society and consumer culture through the critical interpretation of video gaming.
Drawing on conceptual frameworks and case studies, students in this course will examine parallels between religion and fandom to identify and explore how fandoms may resemble, constitute or replace religion in contemporary life.
This course examines the relationship between religion and popular culture. We will read foundational texts in the field of religious studies, explore academic writings on the intersections of religion and popular culture, and watch, listen, discuss, and critically analyze television, film, music, sports, celebrity, and other popular cultural movements.
Death has always been a part of videogames: a way of dividing up playtime, effort, and accomplishment. Through a combination of reading about and playing games this course offers a hands-on approach to studying videogaming as an academic pursuit and what that can teach us about death and dying.
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