Audio Storytelling for Media & Information Literacy
a Discovery Core Experience
BCORE 117 (Arts & Humanities)
About This Course
We have a lot to deal with as a society: climate catastrophe, war, deepening economic inequality, democratic backsliding, structural racism, and more. To do that, we need an educated citizenry and a robust information and media system that allows democracy to flourish, not flounder in the gutters of misinformation and demagoguery. In short, we need people who can engage critically and creatively with information and media environments to inform, educate, and persuade effectively and ethically, and we need information and media systems that strengthen democracy instead of hobbling it.
This class explores the knowledge, dispositions, and skills of media and information literacy, including knowledge about how information and media systems work.
To develop and use these critical literacies, class community members will produce media in the form of audio stories. Students will get an opportunity to produce one type of audio story related to media and information literacy (MIL): an NPR type news story or a personal narrative.
In the first part of class, we learn about MIL and we build fundamental skills in audio production using free Audacity software. In the second part of class, we use our knowledge and skills to craft an audio story, with multiple small assignments designed to scaffold the process toward completing a full 5-10 minute audio story. Students will choose what topic to write their story about with guidance from the instructor.
Professor Ian Porter (he/him/his)
School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
About Professor Porter
Ian Porter is a teacher and librarian whose courses focus on the intersection of communication, information, culture, and democracy. In his free time, he loves hanging out with his wife and daughters, eating good food, and listening to good music on Seattle’s amazing local radio station KEXP.
Contact
Email: iporter@uw.edu