SUMMER STRETCH 2018 INVESTIGATIVE AUDIO JOURNALISM: PODCASTING THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE & CULTURE

Instructor: Cara Stoddard Email: [email protected] Sieg Hall, Room 225 Course Description This course is for students who love reading and storytelling and want to learn to combine their writing skills with their use of digital media to record and edit their own podcast episode about a local issue of their choosing. Students will read about popular scientific topics (ranging from biomimicry in engineering to animal cognition) and the myths that have historically shaped American culture (ranging from school integration to Japanese internment camps to gender pronouns) and then choose their own unique angle on one the topics introduced in the readings to research more in-depth. From there, students will conduct and record an interview with a member of their community who lends a unique perspective on that topic. Students will study the stylistic components that set podcasts apart from talk radio and, using their interview as a springboard, they will combine and edit audio clips in Audacity to tell their own unique story.

Essential Questions 1. What is unique about my own perspective on the world? What is unique about my voice? 2. What is the value of oral storytelling to modern day? 3. What do podcasts offer listeners that is different from what written texts offer readers? 4. How is presenting an argument in the form of a podcast episode similar to and different from presenting an argument in the written form? How does a podcast host’s style affect listeners in similar or different ways than a writer’s voice affects their readers? 5. How is the act of editing audio for a podcast similar to the writing process of drafting and making multiple revisions?

Learning Outcomes Students will expand their understanding of:  Social justice issues including racism, ableism, and gender stereotypes  Oft-overlooked architecture & design in the human-built world; end-of-life medical care; and conservation issues related to hunting ethics, animal domestication, and animal cognition  Developing their own authorial voice / persona as a podcast host  Students will develop skills for:  Research (including interviewing), pitching stories, and understanding data / converting data into a story  Editing and combining audio using open source software  Performing a close reading (for both written and audio texts)

Investigative Audio Journalism Syllabus 2

Instructional Strategies In-class time is designed to fit both extroverted and introverted students’ learning styles. For this reason, socratic seminars and fishbowls will be balanced out with one-on-one conversations (students in pairs) and independently (written-in-class) reflections. As a class, in small groups, and independently students will be practice analyzing written and audio texts on multiple levels in order to look beyond just the subject matter and notice the writer’s / host’s technique (examine the “wiring behind the walls” or “way the argument is structured”).

Students will also have the opportunity to showcase their own learning by playing their final podcasts in front of a live audience on the last day of class. Parents and family are invited to attend this Celebration of Learning potluck, starting at 12:30pm on Thurs July 26th in our classroom. Families may bring a snack or treat to share (optional). Please do NOT plan to arrive early, as students will be working hard to finalize their podcasts for this presentation.

Student Assessment Students’ preparedness for class is the single-most important factor for a rewarding and enhancing experience in this summer enrichment class. Completion of the daily assigned readings/podcast listenings and posting to the online classroom Discussion Boards is mandatory. In the spirit of promoting a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset, every student who participates in the Discussion Board will receive the same grade; but each will receive individualized (and private) holistic feedback on their post from me or one of my TAs. What I am looking for from these Discussion Board posts is engagement with both the topicality (themes and essential questions) of the assigned readings or podcasts and with the craft techniques deployed by the writer or podcast host / interviewer. Additionally, I encourage students to practice their analysis skills in these Discussion Board Posts by referring to specific lines from the assigned reading or podcast (with time stamps for audio texts) as illustrative examples. The online forum is designed to be an extension of the classroom where students can be themselves (talk informally as they would on social media) and build relationships with their classmates socially; however, it is important to remind students that they are not anonymous on these Discussion Boards. Respect and kindness are mandatory. Any posts deemed disrespectful or trollish will be deleted and, for the first offense, the student will have a chance to re-post. Second or more offenses of disrespectful language or trolling in the online classroom discussion forum will simply receive a zero.

Students will submit (via email) one major assignment per week. All assignments are due by 9pm on Fridays and are graded on a credit / no credit basis. That means, all assignments submitted on time that meet the minimum requirements (including word count and # of quotes from outside text) will receive full points. What is most valuable about doing these assignments is the qualitative written feedback you will receive from me. Any assignment that is submitted on Friday after 9pm will be given 75% credit. Any assignment submitted after Friday but by Sunday at midnight will receive 50% credit and will be returned up to 7 days later than classmates’ work that was submitted on time. Any assignment submitted after Sunday the week it was assigned will not be graded or returned with feedback and will receive a zero. Additionally, any assignments submitted on time but that are short of the minimum word count / time length (for

Guggenheim Annex Box 351630 Seattle, Washington 98195-1630 206-543-4160 [email protected] http://RobinsonCenter.uw.edu Investigative Audio Journalism Syllabus 3

audio assignments) or missing any of the other required components will be given partial credit according to the percentage of missing work.

For their final project, students will create their own 5 to 10-min podcast about a topic of their choosing. Each podcast will incorporate an interview the student conducted themselves as well as references to at least two other studies or experts in the field. Final podcasts will range from personal narrative to more objective journalism. All media used in final podcasts must be creative commons license. All students will play their podcasts and talk about their process in front of an audience of their family and friends in a Celebration of Learning on the last day of class—Thursday July 26 at 12:30pm. Students whose podcasts are not finished in time for the Celebration of Learning will play what they have (in process). Parents are invited to (but not required to) bring light refreshments.

Attendance Since this class only meets three days a week, missing even one class could result in missing important instruction and having holes in student learning. The way this course is scaffolded, one day’s in-class activities build on the previous day’s discussions of podcast’s styles and techniques. Producing a podcast over the course of only 15 class periods is already hugely ambitious. For this reason, please be mindful of how absences detract from setting your student up to succeed: that is how multiple absences might affect your student’s ability to complete their podcast project on time and, more importantly, diminish their personal satisfaction with the work they have produced.

Resources and Materials Please bring the following each day:  Smartphone or other handheld audio recorder (avoid using an iPad or tablet)  Laptop computer with charger (avoid sending your student with an iPad or tablet in lieu of a laptop)  Course packet (provided on the first day of class) and folder or 3-ring binder  Sack lunch and snack (or lunch money to use in the HUB)  Earbuds or headphones

Tentative Course Schedule Date Essential Question In-Class Activities Homework Day 1 What tricks and techniques Eduardo Briceno “The Choose a minimum do authors and radio hosts Power of Belief”; of three Mon use to endear readers / RadioLab “Colors” and RadioActive Youth June 25 listeners to their first half of “American Media podcast perspective? Football” episodes to listen to and post to student Blair Braverman “Useless discussion board Bay” and Jill Christman “The Sloth”

Guggenheim Annex Box 351630 Seattle, Washington 98195-1630 206-543-4160 [email protected] http://RobinsonCenter.uw.edu Investigative Audio Journalism Syllabus 4

Day 2 Does language shape / Nancy Mairs’ “On Being A Read Robin Wall influence our perception? Cripple.” RadioActive Kimmerer “Asters Tues Youth Media Field Trip and Goldenrod” June 26 and Workshop. and “Grammar of Animacy” and post Lexicon Valley “When to student Nouns Grew Genitals” and discussion board “When English Lost Its Genders” Day 3 How does a podcast host’s Youth Radio “Foster Care” Submit Voice style affect listeners in and “Immigration.” Lars Analysis by Fri Thurs similar or different ways Eigner’s “On Dumpster June 29 at 9pm. June 28 than a writer’s voice affects Diving” their readers? RadioLab “Border Trilogy Part 1,” TAL “We Are in the Future” Act II “Past Imperfect,” 99% Invisible “Pagodas & Dragon Gates” and “Manzanar” Assignment Voice Analysis—Submit an 800-word, typed voice analysis of the host or 1: narrator of the assigned audio or written texts from this week. More details TBA. Day 4 How do journalists More or Less: Behind the Peruse Humans of responsibly (and Stats Puerto Rico & This New York on Mon irresponsibly) use statistics American Life “Mush Facebook or July 2 to tell a story? Polling” Instagram and post to student Guest Speaker Jevin discussion board. West. TAL “House Rules,” and “The Problem We All Live With Part I” Day 5 How do journalists This American Life “Cops This American Life responsibly (and See It Differently” and “Our Town: Part Tues irresponsibly) use statistics BlindSpot Survey / Video One” and “Our July 3 to tell a story Game Town: The CONTINUED? Economist’s Stats + Stories (Episode Report” Extra and TBA) and Not So Standard post to student Deviations “It’s All discussion board Counterexamples” Day 6 Why is HONY so popular Strangers “A Father’s Submit Storytelling on Facebook and Story” from Data Project Thurs Instagram? by Fri July 6 at July 5 HONY and Guided 9pm. Research Time

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Assignment Storytelling from Data—using one of the Humans of New York stories as a 2: springboard (or propose your own topic to Cara), use research (statistical data) collected in the past five years to dispel a popular cultural misconception or myth held by someone you know. Your piece should balance factual info / statistics with the story of a single individual. 800 words typed or 5 min (max) audio recording. Include a typed Works Cited and Consulted (list of url links is fine). Day 7 Should humans (scientists) RadioLab “Galapagos” Listen to RadioLab be “playing god” when it “Debateable” and Mon comes to conservation? Brandon Stanton on post to student July 9 Building trust with people discussion board. you interview. Interview practice. Day 8 Are humans “superior” to Watch Chris Jordan’s film Listen to 99% other forms of life because Albatross Invisible Tues of our intelligence (capacity “Mooallempalooza” July 10 for self-awareness)? RadioLab “The Rhino and RadioLab Hunter,” “New Nice,” and “Smarty Plants” “Animal Minds” and post to student discussion board Day 9 What is the value of open Intro to Audacity Submit Pitch by Fri source software like July 13 at 9pm Thurs Audacity (if any)? July 12 Assignment Writing a Pitch—Propose your topic and central question your podcast episode 3: is going to explore. Include a statement of why this topic is exigent right now, how it hits close to home for you (and is connected to some core part of your identity), and who you think your intended audience would be for a podcast episode on this topic. Include who you plan to interview, the scheduled interview date, time, and location, and a back-up plan (topic and person to interview) if your first choice pitch doesn’t work out for whatever reason. Day 10 What’s the big deal about Practice: How to introduce Listen to 99% microaggressions? an interview. Invisible “The Mon Troubleshooting Common Great Dismal July 16 Mistakes in Audacity Swamp” and [Continued] “Notes on an Imagined Place” Claudia Rankine excerpts and post to student from Citizen & Ryan Van discussion board Meter “First” and “Practice” Day 11 Is there anything truly How to write for radio: Listen to Reveal unique (or essentially WUNC Youth Podcast “Losing Ground” Tues “black”) about art created “Prank or Hate.” Compare (or FKBP5 gene July 17 by African Americans? Or, / contrast techniques of 10 podcast, TBA) and put more broadly, does an intros (top of the show). post to student

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artist’s racial or ethnic discussion board. identity influence their art George Schuyler “The *more so* than their Negro Art Hokum” and cultural or geographical Langston Hughes’ “The identity? Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain.” James Baldwin “My Dungeon Shook” and Richard Wright “Between the World and Me” Day 12 Are the cultural norms in How to write for radio Submit audio file of Western medicine’s cont.: compare / contrast your interview Thurs palliative care humane? techniques of 10 outros (uncut) and a 400- July 19 (closing remarks). word typed Reflection by RadioLab “The Bitter End” Friday July 20 at 9pm. Assignment Uncut Interview Audio & Reflection—Submit the raw tape of your interview 4: as a .mp3 file and a 400-word reflection that highlights three (or more) specific quotes your interviewee said and how you react (now, not during the interview) to that information presented or their claims. If you agree with them, be sure to point to some outside research your interviewee did not mention to corroborate what they are saying (that you agree with). If you disagree or agree with a difference: explain. Day 13 How is the act of editing Benjamin Percy “Home Work on Podcast audio for a podcast similar Improvement: Revision as Mon to the writing process of Renovation” July 23 drafting and making multiple revisions? Workshop 6 Students First Drafts Day 14 How is the act of editing Workshop 6 Students First Work on Podcast audio for a podcast similar Drafts Tues to the writing process of July 24 drafting and making multiple revisions? Day 15 Revision / Conferencing Time Thurs July 26 12:30pm Celebration of Learning

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