Podcasting the Past: Leisure and Middlebury College

This course explores aspects of American life through an analysis of a widely underutilized luxury: leisure time. Using the college archives, we will study the microcosm of the Middlebury campus and identify noteworthy leisure activities through out the College’s history (i.e., fraternity boat rides down Otter Creek in the late-19th century or the establishment of Middlebury’s Quidditch team in 2005). We will consider how these acts of leisure reflect the broader values of the era(s) in which they emerged. Ultimately students will share their findings in an original, sound-rich documentary podcast. By the end of this course, students will have developed basic recording and sound editing skills and have new tools for translating complicated scholarly ideas into a format appropriate for a lay audience. Previous experience with sound editing or familiarity with podcasting is not required. 3 hrs. lect.