Audiovisual Climate Research*

Catalog description

In this course, you will collaborate with your peers to create a public-facing, digital exhibit that communicates research about a local problem posed by the climate crisis. First you will encounter theories for communicating climate research in sounds, images, and embodied practices. You will apply these theories to analyze exemplary audiovisual projects. Then you will connect with your university’s digital scholarship librarian and visit a media lab to help you shift from theoretical to technical aspects of creating a digital exhibit and recording sounds and images. After agreeing on a local climate problem that the exhibit will address, you will then form teams focused on creating different components of the overall exhibit: on the sound team, you might combine field recordings and recorded interviews into a short podcast episode; on the image team, you might create photo or video essays; on the education team, you might create public educational resources like DIY monitoring kits, reading lists, or create/improve relevant Wikipedia articles; on the interface team, you might link your skills in electrical engineering or environmental monitoring to build interfaces that connect bodies with real-time, local air quality measurements. Or you might devise an altogether different team in consultation with the professor. The course culminates in a public showcase of each team’s contribution to the digital exhibit. You will share your projects with peers, faculty, project participants/interviewees, and other community members. * Audiovisual Climate Research © 2022 by Andrew Niess