Question: In the time of COVID-19, what national collegiate sport welcomes players to compete from the comfort and safety of their own homes? Answer: Electronic gaming or esports.
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty member Jenifer Sunrise Winter had foreseen the academic potential of teaching esports as early as 15 years ago. In 2006, the graduate chair of Communication and Information Sciences (CIS) began planning for a week-long module on sports competition using video games in her technology policy course.
“In 2007, students were fascinated by what was happening with esports in South Korea – the professional teams, TV channels and huge fan base,” said Winter, a professor in the College of Social Sciences’ School of Communications. “That was followed by a summer gaming course in 2014 that addressed esports in more detail, including the policy and economic aspects of e-stadiums, the rise of livestreaming, and the very first scholarships for collegiate esports athletes.”
Then, in 2015, Nyle Sky Kauweloa enrolled in CIS as a PhD student who focused his doctoral dissertation on esports and student development. “I believed that Sky was on the early end of very important research and professional networking,” said Winter. “As a graduate assistant in communication, he developed and taught an experimental course in 2018 and 2019 called Esports and Society. This was one of the first courses in the U.S. wholly focused on esports, and it generated national and international attention. COM 369 is now a permanent part of our BA curriculum.”
Today, Kauweloa is considered somewhat of a grad student superstar. He has won two accolades, the department’s Dan J. Wedemeyer Excellence in Teaching Award in 2016 and the UH Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2017. He also leads UH Esports, which helps mentor captains and coaches for team-based varsity competition in online games including League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant and Super Smash Brothers, to name a few. Nationally, Kauweloa is on the board of governors for the Electronic Gaming Federation, a group of Division I schools that have come together to create a competitive esports league.
“Hawaiʻi may view itself as being isolated from L.A., Houston or Seattle, which are the hubs of competitive gaming. But Hawaiʻi has a number of individuals who are very much known quantities in esports, who over the years have supported the idea of bringing the knowledge that exists into a UH curriculum,” said Kauweloa. “It’s really led to great experience all around, especially for women interested in gaming. Most of the people in my communication course are women!”
Belief in the academic promise of esports exists at the highest levels. This includes early advocacy by UH President David Lassner, who holds a doctorate in CIS and who was UH’s first chief information officer and vice president for IT. Also, in 2020, CSS Dean Denise Eby Konan convened a CSS Esports Task Force, which is developing a COM pilot pathway of nine credits that could launch as early as Fall 2021. The pathway consists of two courses – Esports and Society, and Emerging Topics: Marketing & Esports – and a third course, Streaming & Digital Content Creation, which may follow in Spring 2022.
“We’re excited by the initial three courses because they span three student-focused areas – active learning in the classroom, engaged learning via a possible internship element, and extracurricular activity in varsity competition,” said Konan.
The trilogy of esports courses is expected to attract a large initial group of applicants. Only 15-20 students will be selected for the first cohort, based on their application forms, interviews, and a selection process seeking inclusivity through diverse backgrounds and experiences. “The goal is for students to learn the foundations of esports and its broader social and global impacts,” said Winter. “They will also learn hands-on skills such as streaming and digital marketing.”
Exciting developments are already clicking. This summer, UH is teaming up with the Overwatch League (OWL) to create an unprecedented partnership in collegiate sports. UH Mānoa will host Overwatch online matches from May to August 2021, with invited American players challenging teams from Asia. UH students will have the unique opportunity to shadow OWL staffers as they produce and broadcast the tournament. In addition, participating students will be invited to a meet-and-greet with the esports athletes, and a Q&A about careers in the gaming industry.
Playing a big part in the tournament will be recent COM BA graduate Kevin Nguyen, whose senior research thesis was on esports and who was hired as the program’s first esports assistant. He actively mentors UH teams in addition to other duties, including coordinating tournament registration for the Mountain West’s Esports Series championship. Nguyen and Kauweloa are working on an esports business plan that will be presented to the UH Board of Regents.
“Gaming is more than a global phenomenon. It is a well-developed academic subject, with many accredited degree programs, journals and conferences, in areas all rooted in communication theory and practice,” said Winter. “We hope to continue building our esports curriculum and engaging even more students.”
