Samford University’s Communication and Media Department recently announced a new on-campus podcasting studio, located on the third floor of Ingalls Hall.
Daniel Haun, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, said, “The podcast studio was the brainchild of [CAM department chair] Dr. Ignatius Fosu, [JMC professor] Dr. Danielle Deavours and myself.”
Haun continued, “We wanted to give the students a place where they can do voice overs, create their own podcast or start making really engaging audio media projects.”
The studio was originally located in Haun’s office to “create a space for students to be able to record,” but was often booked by students needing to work on projects. This issue created the need for a separate official podcasting studio on campus.
The vision shared between Haun, Fosu and Deavours was that the Communication and Media Department would offer an Introduction to Podcasting course to add to the Journalism and Mass Communications curriculum. This semester it is offered for the first time.
The popularity of consuming podcasts as a form of news and media has increased in recent years. According to 2022 statistics from Demand Sage, there are “383.7 million podcasts listeners globally,” and about “22% of people listen to podcasts while driving.”
The podcasting studio was created with the aim to offer students the opportunity to cultivate their goals and ideas.
“I think there is something really wonderful when students can take ownership of a creative project and [know] that it belongs to them,” Haun said.
Haun hopes that the podcast studio will be an extension of the audio gear and techniques that he will be teaching his students in the Intro to Podcasting course.
“The podcast studio helps to teach [students] the audio visual skills they need to learn how to use the microphones, mixer, audio recording software, and all of the gear they would use to learn how to become [an] audio visual specialist,” said Haun.
There are many working parts in creating a podcasting studio.
“I worked with Dr. Fosu to come up with an essential list for a podcast studio right before the summer of 2022 and [we] built the studio over the course of the summer,” Haun said.
The features available for students include equipment to record podcasts, make voice overs for video projects, conduct high-quality Zoom calls and perform audio editing.
The podcasting studio is available for students to use through Samford-specific classes. Students who are inclined to use the studio can reach out to the Samford Communication and Media Department via Dr. Ignatius Fosu, Dr. Daniel Haun or Lauren Waycaster.
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