Undergraduate minor
About the minor
Games鈥攆rom blockbuster video games to independently developed board games鈥攈ave become a major cultural force and the largest entertainment industry on earth. The SOJC鈥檚 new game studies minor will give students a foundation for exploring this vital interdisciplinary field, understanding how it fits into broader media ecosystems, and building the skills needed to get a job in this exciting field. This is not a minor that teaches you how to code or build games; it鈥檚 a communication and research program that teaches you how to understand, promote, and contribute to the industry and games of all kinds.
A little more info
- Students in the game studies minor explore digital games, esports, board games, tabletop role-playing
games (RPGs), and virtual and augmented reality to learn how this growing industry intersects with technology, psychology, and culture. - The foundational Intro to Studying Games course surveys key concepts and approaches to analyzing games, their industry, and their impact on social and cultural identities. Electives explore topics like the history of play, game design mechanics, the emergence of esports, and the coverage of games in journalism.
- With its flexible electives, students can tailor the minor to their interests in sociology, anthropology, folklore, game design, culture, media theory, computer science, or multimedia storytelling.
- Media professionals who explore game studies gain deeper insights into an increasingly important medium and an industry that seeks people with strong communication skills to both design content and frame it for the public.
Career opportunities
The game studies minor blends concepts from design, art and animation, media studies, anthropology, sociology, human-computer interaction, and many other disciplines to analyze how games are created, played, and perceived around the world. The robust curriculum prepares students for careers as public relations or advertising professionals in the game industry, game journalists, game script writers, academic researchers, and more.