Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, one of the most rapidly growing forms of communication and expression in the past several years has been through podcasts. Perhaps it’s because quarantining had everyone looking for more forms of entertainment, or because it’s a highly accessible medium to produce. Many are taking advantage of podcasts’ vast creative opportunity, including CWRU’s students.
With nearly 20 students collaborating in Just In Case: A CWRU Podcast, their content includes faculty interviews, discussions of new exhibits at the Cleveland Museum of Art, a breakdown of Cleveland’s Rock and Roll history and personal finance tips for students. Basak Yavuz, a senior majoring in neuroscience, has her own segment titled “How To Be.”
A closer look at “How To Be”
In her free time, Yavuz listens to Turkish podcasts that highlight successful women in the arts, whether that be actors, comedians, artists, etc. Tweaking this, she decided to interview people that she personally views as the best in their academic field.
Two episodes of this segment are already posted, with four more completed and ready to be published in the near future. Yavuz’s conversations with Cara Byrne of the English Department and Schubert Center for Child Studies, as well as Jon Niemi, professor of Neuroscience, are available to listen to on their Spotify platform.
“It’s beautiful to have the roles reversed and direct conversations with those who are usually the ones lecturing us,” says Yavuz. “Speaking with them about their lives and experiences that led to their current positions resurfaces students’ empathy for them. They were in our shoes once, they had to navigate their careers and their schedules are at least as crowded as ours are.”
Features of college faculty members
Additional faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences have also been interviewed outside of Yavuz’s segment. Michael Clune and Robert Spadoni of the English department each have their own episodes, as well as faculty members who teach philosophy, chemistry and biology. In episode eight, Spadoni opens up about how he updates his “Introduction to Film” syllabus each semester, making sure to allow space for new voices, situations, places and identities in film. In episode nine, Clune discusses the changing relationships that fantasy and science fiction novels have with the public, as well as how he was inspired to be a professor of literature by Irish storytelling culture, translations of haiku and his realization that explaining a joke can, in fact, make it funnier.
The podcast’s goal is to “give the CWRU community a platform to share their work and perspectives, and expose others to all the exciting and impactful experiences that are occurring here.” Now, you can hear many professors go in depth about their interesting work even if you can’t fit their class into your schedule– and even if you aren’t a student at all. With the start of another academic year around the corner, be sure to look out for any episodes that spark your interest, just in case you want to give it a listen.