Jesse Sell

Research on Esports Infrastructure

Ongoing

As Esports continue to receive more legitimacy and coverage, I have been investigating the developing support networks within the Esports industry. My Master's Thesis research project involves livestreaming, shoutcasters, and live events/leagues such as the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) or Intel Extreme Masters.

Collegiate Esports

Ongoing

Both the meteoric rise of Esports and the burgeoning gaming industry have led to unprecedented new developments within the amateur Esports scene. Not only have the number of sponsored tournaments and events for amateur players increased exponentially, but we have seen the creation and growth of a collegiate level of play. This semester, I will be working on a study with Dr. T.L. Taylor to investigate many aspects of collegiate Esports.

Designing Games for Academic Literacy

Ongoing

As a research assistant in The Education Arcade, my responsibilities include designing and testing games for acaddemic literacy. This project involves creating learning games which do more than simply illustrate concepts and instead foster learning skills.

Conference Panel on Educational Game Design

March 2014

I will be a member on a panel at this year's Digital Media and Learning Conference, March 6-8, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts, with Chelsea Barabas, Desi Gonzalez, and Erik Stayton. The panel is titled "Learning Where You Least Expect It: Games that Educate in Non-traditional Settings" and will focus on appropriate game design and assessment techniques for integrating games into the classroom. While games provide new means of engagement with material, educators (and industry professionals) often have difficulty integrating play with learning goals and assessing results. Specifically, I will be discussing the potential of commercial video games for education.

I am a Master's candidate in MIT's Comparative Media Studies program. While I do not have any goals to become a professional gamer, I have been following Esports for years and enjoy playing most of the more popular Esports titles. Before attending MIT, I held a Junior Mortgage Consultant position in Philadelphia. During my undergrad at the University of Pittsburh, I spent two summers as a Youth Counselor aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. I hold a BS in Anthropology.