Community-engaged practicum: Creating audio stories and exhibits with oral history interviews

Practitioner-in-Residence: Galen Koch, Maine-based audio producer and sound artist

Course Overview: In this intensive course, students work independently and as a group to create a cohesive audio exhibit from a unique, class-generated oral history collection. Working with a local community organization, students will conduct oral history life interviews with individuals. They will learn how to use professional recording equipment, how to prepare for and conduct an oral history interview, and how to create and format an archival transcript. Through listening and reading assignments, as well as in-depth in-person instruction, students will learn how to edit and produce audio stories from their interviews. They will acquire the skills to edit in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and each student will be responsible for producing 1-2 short audio stories. 

This course will include instruction on narrative storytelling and structure. It will culminate in a listening event for the community, in which students present their work. This event may include a dialogue or Q & A, if applicable. Additionally, this oral history archive will become part of a public archive and a permanent online exhibit on Maine Sound + Story, an oral history database that is open to the public.

Learning Goals: Communicate with a local community organization/”client”; Conduct an oral history interview; Use professional recording equipment; Organize and edit audio in Logic; Use sound and music as narrative tools; Curate and present a collaborative audio exhibit.

Likely Assignments: Pre-Interview Research, Oral history interview, Archival transcription, Audio stories, Exhibit/Listening event