CRASH COURSE: Documentary Radio

In Professor of English Debra Spark’s Documentary Radio Class, students learn how to tell stories in sound. The class offers an opportunity to listen to and make a variety of short documentary pieces while learning how to use recording equipment, conduct interviews, write radio scripts, and edit and mix sound. By the end of the course, students produce radio essays, “Storycorp”-type narratives, vox pops (person-on-the-street-type interviews), soundscapes, and profiles.
“We always want to hear stories…Students need to tell stories in other media than just paper,” says Spark. “Research in the case of this class is not heading to the library, but heading out into the world and meeting people.”