Telling Stories in
Land and Food Systems
Kathryn Gretsinger
Cyprien Lomas
Duncan McHugh
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC, Canada
NMC 2009
June 11th, 2009
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-
Share Alike 2.5 Canada License

Special Topics in
Agriculture
･ How did this course
come to be?
･ How did we do it?
･ What were challenges?
･ What were results?

LFS students
･ Very passionate about their research
･ Somewhat isolated
･ Many have a lack
of awareness
as to how to
tell a story

LFS students
･ Engaging their research in a new way
･ Improving their
communication
skills
･ Expressing
themselves
using digital tools
･ Spreading their
message to a
broader audience

Academic podcasting
･ Mostly re-purposing
lectures
･ Useful, not very dynamic

The PEPI Group
･ Cross-campus collaboration

The PEPI Group
･ Cross-campus collaboration
･ Putting the technology into students’ hands
･ Sought to create an ‘academic iTunes’
･ Evolved into a partnership between LFS &
SoJ

AGRO 461 & UBC Farm
･ 4th year seminar in issues related to the UBC
Farm
･ Traditionally assignments were essays
･ UBC Farm is the only working farm in
Vancouver
･ UBC Farm is threatened by development
･ Two-part assignment

This year’s course
･ Sought to use journalism skills to teach to six
LFS students to create engaging and rigorous
audio documentaries
･ Four-member teaching
team:
･ Agriculture prof
･ Journalism prof
･ Tech instructor
･ Big thinker

This year’s course
･ Students didn't have a
framework
for this type of work
･ four rules of
journalism
･ storytelling, not just
feeling
･ crafting a narrative out
of
an interview

What is citizen journalism?
･ Students were taught the
difference
between advocacy and
journalism
･ As newspapers and other media
suffer cutbacks, room for citizen
journalists to have a voice

Early results
･ Streeter: students were sent out
to
ask strangers a question
･ Voicer: simple story piece that
combines basic audio editing,
sound
recording, interviewing and
narration

Technology workshops
･ New skills for students to
pick up
･ “ How to get good
recording”
･ “ The use of audio
recorders”
･ “ Basic audio editing”
･ “ Copyright awareness”

Tools
･ Audacity

Tools
･ A number of audio recorders:
M-Audios, Zoom H4s & Edirols

Final project
･ Audio piece, ~10mins in length
･ Workshopped extensively
･ Sense of accountability to
students
and the work
･ CBC competition

Final project
･ “ The Soil
Beneath
Your Feet”
･ “ Dandelion”
･ “ The
Farmhouse”
･ “ Where Are We
Growing”

Challenges
･ new technology
･ lack of time
･ the need to change
culture
･ scarcity of
resources
[pilot]

Student Reflections

Next year
･ formalised course, restricted elective
･ 15 students cap
･ new assignments

Conclusion
･ One way to tell 50 stories
･ Better breed of podcasts
･ Student satisfaction
･ raised the bar and they stepped up
･ tangible product to share with those
outside of the university
･ giving students the tools they need
to be
heard
･ epiphanies can't be planned

Questions?

Thanks!
Kathryn Gretsinger
kgretsin@ interchange.ubc.ca
Duncan McHugh
duncan.mchugh@ ubc.ca
Cyprien Lomas
cyprien.lomas@ ubc.ca
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
The University of British Columbia
www.landfood.ubc.ca/learningcentre