PEDAGOGICAL OBJECTIVE
In the course Soundscapes of the Connecticut River Valley, Professor Jeffers Engelhardt has students participate in community-engaged learning exploring the musical communities of the Connecticut River Valley. Students then produce original multi-media contributions and then add to a ethnographic documentary archive hosted by Amherst at www.valleysoundscapes.org.
academic technology tools
Wordpress is a platform, hosted by Amherst, to create blogs for courses and academic projects. Google My Maps was used to build the interactive maps embedded within the website.
Description
Professor Engelhardt has taught this course for a decade, on a recurring basis, since 2009. During each iteration students produce and post documentary video and audio essays about a wide variety of Valley musicians and communities. The website currently hosts material for over 30 projects. The benefit of a cumulative archive is that new students have a wealth of examples, and lessons learned, to draw on when planning their projects.
Students map relevant geographic locations on a collaborative map, with each map point directing to the project page.
Professor Engelhardt organizes a public screening and presentation of projects at the end of each semester. A recent highlight was in Fall of 2018, when students working with the local Mariachi Mexico Antiguo orchestra arranged for the group to give a live performance at the event in the Center for Humanistic Inquiry.
The Center for Community Engagement provided extensive support for this project in terms of travel logistics as well as guidance on the nuanced aspects designing ethical ethnographic fieldwork. Multimedia Services provided training in video and audio production.
Accessibility Bonus
- By meeting web accessibility guidelines, this website serves as a good model for reaching all types of users.
- The Wordpress platform is designed to be accessible to all users and is continually improving its accessibility features.
- Students adding content to Wordpress sites can use the "Accessible Content" feature to check for common accessibility errors (such as missing alt-text).
How to...
Published Spring 2020 by Academic Technology Services