Assignments are due on the Monday of the week they are listed (e.g., the assignments for continental exploration are due on January 27).
Week 0 (January 22, 2020): Introduction
- Michael F. Robinson, “Why We Need a New History of Exploration”, Common-place, vol. 10 no. 1, October 2009.
- Dan Cohen, Bridging the Academic-Public Divide Through Podcasts
Part 1: Reading Stories
Week 1 (January 27, 29): Continental exploration
-
Explorers Podcast: Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery, Part 1 (reading response)
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January 29: Library visit! Meet in Fenwick 1014A.
In class this week:
- Instructions from Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis
- Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, University of Nebraska
- Lewis and Clark Timeline, Monticello
Grade contracts are due on February 3, submitted via email to Dr. Mullen. You’ll also be selecting your topic on February 3.
Week 2 (February 3, 5): Oceanic exploration
- Smithsonian Institution, The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842—make sure you especially read the essay by Nathaniel Philbrick (reading response)
Week 3 (February 10, 12): Polar exploration
- Bruce Henderson, Who Discovered the North Pole?
- Admiral Richard E. Byrd, interview (reading response can encompass both assignments)
In class
Week 4 (February 17, 19): African and South American exploration
- Cradle of Gold: The Story of Hiram Bingham and Machu Picchu (reading response)
- Great Pitches Make Great Episodes, Gimlet Academy
In class
- Hiram Bingham, In the Wonderland of Peru
Week 5 (February 24, 26): Deep-sea exploration
- National Geographic, Ocean Exploration Timeline
- Mark Kaufman, Uncharted Worlds, Mashable (reading response can encompass both assignments)
- The Deep Sea, Neal Agarwal
In class:
Week 6 (March 2, 4): Space exploration
- Explorers Podcast, Apollo 11 / The Moon Landing (reading response)
- Due March 4: With your partner, pitch me your idea for the expedition you want to cover, and the themes you want to engage with in your podcast episode. Do this via a 3-minute audio or video recording that you upload to Slack. Convince me that this is interesting!
Week 7: Spring Break!
Part 2: Telling Stories
Week 7b (March 16, 18): Bonus spring break!
Week 8 (March 23, 25): Producing a podcast + Storyboarding your idea
- Now That’s Good Tape and Putting It All Together, Gimlet Academy
- Topics we’ll cover this week:
- Setup for our podcast
- Framing for our podcast
- Individual tasks for our podcast
- Working with a partner
- Telling a story dynamically
- Integrating primary sources
- Breaking down the narrative
Revised grade contracts due March 30.
Week 9 (March 30, April 1): Writing the script
- Engaging Episodes: The Power Podcasting Series (read through all the chapters)
- Topics we’ll cover this week:
- From outline to script
- Writing for audio
- Working in your personal style while maintaining professionalism
Week 10 (April 6, 8): Workshopping the script and writing show notes
- First draft of script due April 6.
- Creating Great Podcast Shownotes
- Topics we’ll cover this week
- Citations
- Writing for the public
- WordPress
- Taking and giving constructive criticism
Week 11 (April 13, 15): Special Guest! + recording
- Topics we’ll cover this week:
- Talking into a microphone
- Recording in Audacity
- Marking up your script
- Recording with a co-host
Week 12 (April 20, 22): Special Guest! + editing
Week 13 (April 27, 29): Edits
- Record your introduction.
- Prepare your edit document.
Special event cancelled: Friday, May 1: Concert with the New Sound Collective–we’ll see if we can figure something else out!
Week 14 (May 4, 6): Show notes and final touches
- By May 4, have your podcast edit document to Dr. Mullen.
- By May 6, have a draft of your show notes drafted on the blog and ready for critique. (You don’t need to publish it yet.)
Week 15 (May 11): Launch day!
- We’ve got just a bit more work to do in order to finish up! Keep going strong!