Sound Studies Practicum

How are artists and scholars of sound engaging various crises in the anthropocene? What are the possibilities and limitations of responding to or representing a place through sound recording and playback? How do contemporary composers and sound artists engage place-specific material in their work? This practice-based course examines the interdisciplinary field of sound studies through close reading, listening, and hands-on (ears-on?) work in sound. Students will create place-based recording projects and site-specific sound installations that draw on local fieldwork excursions around Frenchman Bay, as well as on archival research connected to the Maine Sound and Story Archive and others. Students will sharpen skills in field recording, audio editing, multichannel sound mixing and presentation, artistic collaboration, and building sonic-rich soundscapes as they work to create immersive sound art projects. This class will work to expand the narrative podcast format, seeking more abstract and layered forms that draw on research and storytelling to help audiences sense a place or a concept through the experience of sound. The course will examine key readings in the field of sound studies, and investigate the practice of sound artists working at the intersections of sound and climate change, sound and social (in)justice, the repatriation of sound recordings, sound and ethnographic practice, and more. Students must have prior experience recording and editing sound, and a willingness to collaborate with their peers to synthesize and realize their ideas. This course will involve fieldwork excursions outside of class time.

Evaluation will be based on class participation, engagement with class projects and assignments, and the demonstration of learning in relationship to course content.

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.