Game Studies and Design Certificate

Program type:

Certificate

Format:

On Campus

Est. time to complete:

1-2 semesters

Credit Hours:

Level up your game industry knowledge and game making skills.

Developed in coordination with Dallas-Fort Worth area game studios, the 15-hour interdisciplinary certificate introduces students to contemporary ideas in game studies, design and project leadership experiences.

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

Media Arts

Stephen.Mandiberg@unt.edu

RTFP 262 and GAB 460

Courses Tuition & Aid

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Why Earn a Certificate in Game Studies and Design?

Games are everywhere in society these days. Regardless of whether you play them or not, games now touch on everything from daily news to economic and infrastructural policy. This 15-credit certificate gives you enough knowledge to thrive in whatever major you are pursuing that touches on games, be it Economics, Marketing, Creative Writing, Journalism, Psychology, Computer Science or anything else. As games and applications become more prevalent, this certificate can help you understand them and their place in the world.

Game Studies and Design Certificate Highlights

Learn why games matter in the 21st century and how they're studied and played.

Hone your knowledge and skills so that you can work alongside the behemoth 188.8-billion-dollar-a-year (and growing) game industry.

Course visits and guest lectures by industry professionals at game studios around the Dallas-Fort Worth area like Gearbox Software, id Software and more.

Faculty have done it all, including making the art for games, designing the stories of games, setting up the rule sets for games, building the game worlds, and even publishing books about games and the game industries.

Electives are broad, enabling you to pursue the certificate from just about any major.

Classes can involve everything from learning how to make 3D assets for games to studying history through video games.

Game Studies and Design Certificate Courses You Could Take

Exploration of fundamental concepts related to games and gamers from socio-cultural, psychological and technological viewpoints. Explores the role of gaming technologies in communication, focusing on how they change the nature of communication and their impacts on people’s lives and on society, and develops analytical abilities for examining games and gaming technology.

A breadth-first introduction to computer science based upon 7 “Big Ideas,” namely: 1) computing is a creative activity, 2) abstraction reduces information and detail to facilitate focus on relevant concepts, 3) data and information facilitate the creation of knowledge, 4) algorithms are used to develop and express solutions to computational problems, 5) programming enables problem solving, human expression and creation of knowledge, 6) the Internet pervades modern computing and 7) computing has global impacts.

Theories of play and how play is expressed in games. Emphasis on game literacy and games as complex cultural and aesthetic objects. Inquiry into the social, political, and ethical issues that inform game stories, game design, game genres, game aesthetics, player decision-making, and role-playing and identity within games.

An introduction into major concepts in story development for game writing and an online workshop for student writing focused on game-specific characterization and narrative structures.

Explores the dynamic realm of games as an artistic and industrial practice and as an academic discipline. Delves into the diverse landscape of games as a medium, examining their interpretation, analysis and creation. Emphasizes both scholarly inquiry and practical skills.

Analyzes video games using a variety of methods that come from the humanities and social sciences.

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