Students learned audio production, storytelling, collaboration skills
April 2025 – Students in Drew University’s Media & Communications Audio Production course are learning history and presenting it in podcast form.
As part of Adjunct Professor Andrew J. Salvati’s 200-level course, students produced a 47-minute episode of “The Madison Barbershop Controversy”, exploring the 1964 protests against racial discrimination in barbershops in downtown Madison, NJ.
“The podcast project is about as democratically structured as I can make it, and I think the students really enjoy expressing their opinions and exerting some agency over where the production ultimately goes,” said Salvati.
In creating a podcast, students are able to gain first-hand experience in constructing a narrative, develop compelling storytelling techniques, and gain familiarity with editing software and tools.
“Learning these skills in an academic sense was very rewarding because we were able to understand them at a pace that allowed us to understand them well,” said Madison O’Neill C’27, a media and communications major and theatre arts minor. “Even as a sophomore, Drew has already given me so many skills to help me succeed in the field.”
Students conduct interviews themselves and learn how to work collaboratively and professionally—all skills transferable to the real world.
“As someone who wants to go into the television/film industry, being able to add this sort of media production was essential to add to my skill set,” said Kayla Cleary C’26, a media and communications major and film studies minor. “This class felt more like an internship in the sense that we spent the whole semester learning and practicing different aspects of audio production, slowly working towards the finished product. It allowed me to experience the work from all sides, which I will take with me in my future career.”
You can listen along on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
