Special Topics in Comparative Literature (488-0-20)
Topic
Podcast Studies
Instructors
Neil Kanwar Harish Verma
Meeting Info
Annie May Swift Hall 109: Wed 10:00AM - 12:50PM
Overview of class
Taking its title from a key essay from a moment in which radio studies first emerged, this class investigates the formation of research agendas around podcasting in recent years. Tracking some of the essential texts, podcasts, and journals, this class considers the poetics, structure, economics, pedagogical functions and social ramifications of the form. Some questions will include: What roles have particular genres such as comedy, true crime, storytelling and audio drama played in narratives of "boom" and "bust" around podcasting? What narratological challenges have podcasts taken on in the past fifteen or twenty years, and how do they fit into the broader context of media consumption and production? What is (or isn't) at stake in positing podcasting as a "new" medium, separate from radio, audiobooks and other similar digital media? How has the debate about who podcasts are for been evolving? Where is the "idea" of podcast studies forming? And how do we "critically listen" to a podcast in a scholarly setting, anyways?
When it comes to a medium about talk, there is a lot to talk about. To help, we will look at major texts and audio works from 2005 to today. In pairs, students will interview a scholar working in the field; leads on willing writers will be provided by the instructor if required, and students can take this interview in whatever direction they wish. Students will also help to generate a database of annotated podcasts based on their listening interests, to be shared among other researchers. Finally, students will have the option of writing a paper or producing an audio work that digs into a key problem facing podcast studies today, from podcast preservation to racial representation in the field and podcast narrative poetics.
Registration Requirements
This class is open to graduate students only, with a maximum enrollment of 12. No familiarity with podcasting or audio storytelling is required.
Learning Objectives
In this class, students will become conversant in media theory associated with a field in the midst of formation, including learning a disputed history.
Students who are fans of the form will gain a fuller appreciation of its breadth; this would be an ideal class for doctoral students focusing an aspect of their work on audio narratives, providing the terminology and framework required for that labor.
Like all doctoral level courses, this class provides an opportunity to hone skills at research and to innovate techniques of scholarly analysis, in this case including interview skills, archival understandings and scholarly expression.
Evaluation Method
Class participation: 20 %
Interview Assignment: 20%
Archival Project: 15 %
Final paper / Project: 45%
Class Materials (Required)
McHugh, The Power of Podcasting
978-0231208772
Spinelli and Dan, Podcasting: Audio Media Revolution
9781501328657
Bottomley, Sound Streams
9780472126774
We will listen to several episodes of one podcast, each week.
Class Notes
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Screen Cultures PhD students or by permission of instructor.