scholarship
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ESA Foundation offering $45K in game dev scholarships
The Entertainment Software Association Foundation has announced the start of a new undergraduate scholarship program aimed at women and minority applicants who are looking to get into the games industry. Up to fifteen scholarships for $3,000 USD will be awarded, making for a grand total of $45,000 to be given away by the Foundation each year.The scholarship applies only to full-time undergraduate students during the 2008-09 school year, and is targeted toward women and minority students who intend on entering the games industry. News of this scholarship closely follows the announcement of the second year of Penny Arcade's own scholarship, which awards $10,000 to a single student each year. The deadline for the ESA scholarship is May 15. More details can be found here.
Penny Arcade ponies up $10,000 scholarship for game education
The web comic-made-philanthropy Penny Arcade has announced the return of its self-titled Penny Arcade Scholarship, which aims to award $10,000 to a single student looking to get his or her foot wedged into the game industry's front door. The grant, now in its second year, asks those interested to put pen to paper and write a two-page essay describing their schooling and just how they plan on making an impact in the industry, on top of transcripts and two letters of recommendations. According to the guidelines spelled out on the grant's website, a qualified applicant must also be a full-time student at an accredited college or university during the 2008-09 school year, must plan to enter the game industry "in some capacity," and must have a minimum 3.3 GPA. If you believe you have what it takes to stand out among what we expect to be a sea of applications, get to writing -- submissions have to be sent in no later than April 30, 2008, with the lucky student being notified by mail in July.
SOE announces G.I.R.L. scholarship program
We had the chance to hit up Sony Online Entertainment's soiree at GDC and were privy to their announcement about a scholarship program designed to educate and recruit women into the video game industry: the Gamers In Real Life (G.I.R.L. -- see what they did thar?) scholarship program offers a $10,000 tuition scholarship towards an education at any Art Institutes school where currently enrolled, plus a paid internship at one of SOE's studios in Austin, Denver, San Diego or Seattle. Applications will be accepted beginning April 1, 2008 and ending May 31, 2008, with winners announced on or about June 30, 2008. Entries will be judged by a panel of industry professionals at SOE. The event featured a Q&A session with some of SOE's female production and executive staff including Torrie Dorrell (SVP Global Sales and Marketing), Courtney Simmons (Director of Corporate Communications and PR), Sherry Floyd (Producer, SOE Seattle), Laura Naviaux (Director, Global Brand Marketing), Taina Rodriguez (Publicist), Tracey Seamster (Game Designer), and Heather Sowards (Media Producer). Hit up the gallery for pics of the event and some gratuitous screens from The Agency.%Gallery-16484%
Michael Bartosh MacIT Scholarship Fund
The organizers of the MacWorld Conference and Expo are setting up a memorial scholarship in honor of Mac author, Michael Bartosh, who recently passed away from a tragic accident in Tokyo. The Michael Bartosh MacIT Scholarship will pay the travel expenses and MacIT conference fees for one or more University/College-age Network Engineering students. Knowing Michael and his work, I can't think of a better way to honor him. Bravo.
Defining academic scholarship in games [Update 1]
The International Game Developers Association's "Culture Clash" column this month takes a look at the boundary between games and scholarship. Academia, and games academia in particular, can be the victim of a lot of stereotyping, but if developers look beyond the tweed-clad perceptions they may find a valuable resource:"One application of game studies is to help make better games by better understanding the medium. We've already seen it in a few places – think about Microsoft's HCI and usability labcoats working with Bungie on Halo, or behavioral scientists colluding with developers to make next-gen MMOs even more engaging."Of course, persuading your college professor that studying World of Warcraft is really going to help your tribal ethnography project is a different problem, but we've heard of several college papers that studied games.[Via Acid for Blood][Update 1 - fixed IGDA typo]
Apple rewards college-bound seniors
Attention, college-bound high school seniors: Apple is currently looking for 10 recipients of its scholarship program. The students who demonstrate the most innovative use of technology in academics will receive $2,000 (which should just about cover your books, actually), plus a MacBook Pro and an iPod nano! To enter, you must be a high school student who will attend a 2-year or 4-year accredited college or university in the fall of 2006, and a legal resident of the U.S. Good luck!Thanks, Matt!
