Esports as a career? UH Mānoa is helping students prepare for it

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Apr 14, 2019

Student participating in UH Manoa esports scene
Student participating in UH Manoa esports scene

Link to video and sound (details below): https://bit.ly/2VB8K15

What: As the global esports industry moves mainstream, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences is in the game, preparing students for careers in the fast-growing field of esports.

Where:  School of Communications in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

Why:  According to statista.com, the global esports market revenue was valued at close to $865 million in 2018. Expectations of continued rapid growth lead to projections pegging global revenues to reach $1.79 billion by 2022.

How:  Kauweloa’s course, Esports and Society, is the first of its kind at UH Mānoa and covers the growing popularity and significance of this expanding industry.

Other facts:

  • In the Esports and Society course, students study the emerging role of esports as new form of mainstream entertainment, including topics such as: general foundational concepts, structure of esports and competitions, evaluation of new technologies arising in this field, and gender as well as ethical issues and concerns.

  • The esports industry also offers graduates many career opportunities. Kauweloa hopes to provide support for students, not only as competitive gamers, but also to empower them to create their own destiny in this field, whether it be a web developer, shoutcaster (commentator), analyst, content creator, nutritionist, lawyer or esports experts in media production, marketing, social media or sales.

  • UH Mānoa is also gearing up to send its first team to an esports tournament, which is tentatively set for April 16. The team, which includes two female players, will participate in a five-week, round-robin event for the game Overwatch.

VIDEO:

BROLL:

(1 minute 33 seconds)

0:00-1:33, 18 clips: students gathering to play video games

SOUND:

Nyle Sky Kauweloa, UH Mānoa graduate assistant in the School of Communications  (14 seconds)

“If we talk about esports as an academic program, we’re talking about creating courses, creating modules that perhaps exist within different courses that touch upon different facets of esports.”

(8 seconds)

“No longer is it just two people playing competitive games but it’s the whole ecosystem that supports this entire sort of industry.”

 

David Lassner, UH President and interim UH Mānoa Chancellor (13 seconds)

“We will be attracting students to this university with an amazing esports program including the classes that we’re offering in esports again not in how to game but what esports is and what it means economically and socially for society.”

 

Kevin Nguyen, a UH Mānoa senior majoring in Communications and who has been active on the campus esports scene  (13 seconds)

“I want to give students the opportunity that I struggled with trying to get, I want to make sure that when they grow up they can go up to their mom and their dad and say look there’s this great program here at the University of Hawai‘i, I can promise you that it’s a very secure path.”