The University of Chichester has teamed up with Twitch to give its esports degree students broadcast skills and experience.
The partnership will provide undergrads on Chichester’s BA (Hons) in Esports with ‘expert tuition from Twitch professionals and opportunities to stream across the world’, as stated in this press release on the University of Chichester website.
“The Twitch partnership will be embedded into the academic modules of the Chichester degree, teaching essential skills that empower students with the confidence to speak publicly, launch their own brands, and give them access to the gaming industry worldwide,” the press release stated.
The esports degree has become one of the University of Chichester’s fastest-growing courses since it launched in 2019. Students on the three-year programme learn in the university’s £35m Tech Park and cover the physical and psychological impact of esports, including nutrition, coaching and strategy.
The degree includes lecturers such as former pro player Rams ‘R2K’ Singh, FIFA caster Brandon Smith and experienced sports journalist Ian Worden.
Rams added: “Ever since taking this job, a goal of mine has been to bridge the gap between the endemic industry and academia for esports. Slowly but surely its coming together and with the help of Twitch, that goal is closer to where I want this to go.”
Mark ‘Garvey’ Candella, director of student and education programs at Twitch, said: “We are proud to partner with the University of Chichester in bringing relevant and engaging education in emerging, new, and digital media through gaming and esports. We are very much looking forward to being of service to their faculty, educators, and student body.”
Michael Holley, head of Chichester’s department of creative digital technologies, commented: “Twitch is a world leader in broadcasting platforms across the gaming and esports sectors and has a real passion for enhancing digital skills in educational and community settings.
“This relationship will benefit University of Chichester students greatly in the coming years and complements our existing partnerships with DXRacer and HyperX.”
There’s more info on the University of Chichester’s BA (Hons) in Esports here. There’s also the University of Chichester’s Twitch page here.
Esports News UK’s Dom Sacco has given guest lectures in esports journalism at the university.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
