HONR 399-702 Recorded Human Voice Spring 2011
Class: Tuesday (T), Thursday (R), 12:30 – 1:45, Oliver Ed 2116A
Lee Bloxom 109 Harrison House, 816 W. Franklin
bloxompl@vcu.edu
Office hours: W, R 9:30 – 10:30 or by appt.
Course Description: In this five-week course, we will explore a range of approaches to sound documentary
work, paying particular attention to work emerging from interviews. We’ll read about and listen to historically
important documentarians like Edward R. Murrow and Studs Terkel and we will explore interesting
contemporary work. Students will have the opportunity to focus on aspects of the course that are particularly
relevant to their interests in their written and oral assignments.
Required Texts:
Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound (Biewen & Dilworth, eds. UNC Press, 2010)
The Exonerated (Blank & Jensen Faber & Faber, 2004)
Coursepack: #54, available at Uptown Color, 1205 W. Main Street.
Course Requirements & Evaluation:
Attendance and engaged participation are essential for success in this course. Therefore, attendance, class
participation, a listening/reading response notebook, and class blog entries account for 50% of each student’s
course grade. Students will also work in small groups to produce a 30 – 180 sec documentary sound piece.
Finally each student will write a 2-3 page reflection paper, due two weeks after the final class meeting.
Attendance / Class Participation
Response Notebook
Class Blog Entries
Small Group Documentary Project
Project Idea Presentation
Reflection Paper
10%
20%
20%
20%
10%
20%
(due March 22)
(due Feb 20, Feb 27, March 6, 13, 27)
(due March 10)
(due March 22)
(due April 7)
Course Plan:
Tuesday, Feb. 15: Introduction & Course Expectations
Thursday, Feb. 17: Radio and the Imagination
Readings for Thur, Feb 17:
Reality Radio: “Are We on the Air?” Brookes (pgs 15 – 26) &
“Harnessing Luck as an Industrial Product” Glass (pgs 54 – 66)
Coursepack:
“The Ethereal World” from Listening In, Douglas
Tuesday, Feb. 22: Interview Styles & Studs Terkel
Readings for Tues, Feb 22:
Coursepack:“Conducting Interviews” from Doing Oral History, Ritchie
“And What Happened Then? Interviewing an Interviewer” from Studs Terkel, Parker
Excerpts from Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Studs Terkel
“Oral History and Hard Times: A Review Essay” from A Shared Authority, Frisch
Other selections from Studs Terkel, Parker:
“A National Resource: J. Kenneth Galbraith” (Parker’s interview w/ Galbraith)
“Voices in the Air” (Excerpts from Studs Terkel radio interviews)
Studs Terkel interview on his oral history books
Thursday, Feb. 24: Edward R. Murrow
Readings for Thur, Feb 24:
Coursepack:
Selections from Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism, Edwards
“Edward R. Murrow: The Menace of McCarthyism” from Tell No Lies
Optional Reading: “World War II and the Invention of Broadcast Journalism” (coursepack)
Tue, March 1: Innovative Programming: The Kitchen Sisters, RadioLab & This American Life
Readings for Tue, March 1:
Reality Radio: “Talking to Strangers” the Kitchen Sisters (pgs 36 – 43)
“No Holes Were Drilled in the Heads of Animals in the Making of this Radio Show” (pgs 44 – 53)
(review “Harnessing Luck as an Industrial Product” Ira Glass, pgs 54 – 66)
Thursday, March 3: Found Sound – Working with Archives
Readings for Thur, March 3:
Reality Radio: “Living History” Stephen Smith (pgs 135 – 146).
Coursepack: “What Makes Oral History Different” by Portelli from The Oral History Reader
Tuesday, March 8: Oral History
Readings for Tuesday, March 8:
Coursepack: “Form and Meaning of Historical Representation” from The Battle of Valle Guilia, Portelli
+ Review readings from Coursepack:
“What Makes Oral History Different” by Portelli from The Oral History Reader
Excerpts from Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, Studs Terkel
Other selections from Studs Terkel, Parker:
“A National Resource: J. Kenneth Galbraith” (Parker’s interview w/ Galbraith)
“Voices in the Air” (Excerpts from Studs Terkel radio interviews)
Studs Terkel interview on his oral history books
Thursday, March 10: Small Group Documentary Project presentations
Due March 10: Small Group Documentary Project
SPRING BREAK
Tuesday, March 22: The Power in Stories – Storycorps, Radio Diaries & other storytelling projects
Readings for Tuesday, March 22:
Reality Radio: “Diaries and Detritus” Richman (pgs 128 – 134) & “Afterward: Listen” Allison (pgs 183 – 195)
Coursepack: StoryCorps mission statement, Radio Diaries mission statement
+ browse, read, listen on StoryCorps website: http://storycorps.org/ & Radio Diaries: http://www.radiodiaries.org/
Due March 22: Project Idea Presentations
Individual Response Notebooks
Thursday, March 24: Documentary Theater: The Exonerated & other examples of Verbatim Theater
Readings for Thursday, March 24
The Exonerated & Coursepack: Chapters 3 & 12 from Living Justice, Blank & Jensen
Coursepack: Alecky Blythe and Nicolas Kent interviews from Verbatim
+ browse, read, watch, listen at http://www.recordeddelivery.net/index.html (Blythe’s website)
Due April 7: Reflection Paper