Campus Radio - The Prairie Star

After our podcast recording session, Jim Grubbs and I continued to talk about how students might become involved in campus radio. As Jim mentioned, he hopes to see a series of radio production courses in the future and, of course, students taking those courses will likely have a role in student radio. I was please to learn that he doesn’t see that as the only path to involvement or that students have to wait until that time to become involved.

As you know, the LIS program encourages students to take advantage of independent study options (LIS 380 or LIS 499 for LIS elective credit or AST 301 for ECCE credit.) In each of these options, students pursue a particular area of interest and, in the end, present what they’ve learned. This might be a traditional research paper, or a learning journal, or a series of poems. It all depends upon what the student has studied. But, consider that you might also present what you’ve learned as a radio program.

For example, this August will mark the 100th anniversary of the Springfield Race Riot which was one of the precipitating events that led to the creation of the NAACP. A local student might develop an independent study around this historical event. They might read through oral histories housed in the UIS library or interview the children of people who live through and were affected by the riot or they might look at the cultural ripples that resulted from that event and others like it. Wouldn’t this research project make an interesting radio program? It could even be a multi-part series.

Or, maybe you work with children in your career. Wouldn’t it be interesting to present our Presidential election process through the eyes of children? What do they feel are the important issues? You might ask them to write essays and have them read them aloud. Or, you may have a roundtable discussion which you record.

Student radio opens up a whole new forum to present your ideas and your learning. Jim said that all of his spare time is consumed with running the radio station so please don’t contact him directly with ideas. If you’re interested, however, contact me and let’s discuss your idea. This way, we can work out the details and prepare a proposal before you approach him.

Have a good week.

The Prairie Star
UIS Oral History Collection
The 1908 Race Riot