September 10, 2009 – News & Views

Bennett Thompson ’12, left, and associate professor Dale Brugh have created ‘Voices in Chemistry,’ a podcast series and Web site featuring stories and advice from Ohio Wesleyan’s 2007, 2008, and 2009 chemistry majors.

Photo by Cole Hatcher

Sound Advice
‘Voices in Chemistry’ Podcasts Share OWU Student Insights

Ohio Wesleyan University student Bennett Thompson ’12 spent much of his summer transforming more than 30 hours of audio interviews into “Voices in Chemistry,” a new podcast series designed to share the “authentic stories, struggles, and advice” of OWU chemistry majors.

And what did the Highland, Indiana, resident learn from his hours of intense listening and editing? “Almost every student mentioned the difficulty of organic chemistry, which I’m taking now,” Thompson says. “I was forewarned.”

The material for “Voices in Chemistry” dates back to 2007, when associate professor Dale Brugh, Ph.D., began recording end-of-year interviews with graduating chemistry majors.

“I had a lot of seniors in my physical chemistry class,” Brugh recalls, “and everyone had a unique story to tell. They shared stories that had me rolling on the floor laughing, but they shared their struggles, too, which is important. I think current and future students will benefit from their insights.”

Launched in August, “Voices in Chemistry” will be updated with fresh content throughout the academic year. Thompson and Brugh anticipate posting four to six additional podcasts each week, with new material being added Tuesdays and Thursdays.

To date, they have created 246 individual podcasts, including short subject-oriented pieces and longer “advice reels” featuring OWU graduates from 2007, 2008, and 2009. The advice reels are intended to aid current and prospective students who are considering majoring in chemistry.

“It was challenging to reduce 20- to 60-minute interviews down to two to three minutes,” Thompson says of the shorter pieces. “I spent a week listening to the interviews and thinking about a concept. I knew I wanted to create little tales. I wanted to structure the comments to tell stories.”

After Thompson completed his initial editing, he shared the files electronically with Brugh for feedback.

“Bennett did a tremendous job,” Brugh says. “He took out the pauses and really polished the pieces. The final podcasts sound really professional.”

Thompson is a self-taught “audio engineer,” a hobby he began in high school. “I was in a garage band,” says the former ska band trumpeter. (Ska music developed in Jamaica and is considered a precursor to reggae, he explains.) “And a lot of my friends were in bands. I wanted to find another outlet to share our music.”

A few pieces of audio equipment and how-to books later, Thompson had created a project studio in his basement. “I learned by doing,” he says. “I think working with music helped me to develop an intuition with sound and workflow.”

Although he hasn’t declared a major yet, Thompson says he appreciated hearing the OWU alumni’s voices in chemistry.

“I now have a clearer perspective about what the next few years might entail, given the choice of chemistry as a potential major,” he says.

To hear OWU’s “Voices in Chemistry” for yourself, visit voices.owu.edu. Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes links, as well as an RSS feed subscription, are available, too (see table below).

– Cole Hatcher