New podcasts after African Dynamics' students attended workshop

Students from the 2024-2025 Leiden-Delft-Erasmus minor African Dynamics attended an engaging Academic Podcast Workshop at the professional podcast studio in the Humanities Hub, located in the Johan Huizinga Building in Leiden. The workshop was led by Thomas Vorisek, the ECOLe video coordinator, who equipped the students with essential skills to create, record, and edit their own academic podcasts as part of a course assignment that contributes to their final grade.

Academic podcasts
The session began with an introduction to podcasting, covering its role as a medium in general, and its specific use in academic contexts. Students explored the unique aspects of academic podcasts and how they differ from other formats. What's different is that academic podcasts mainly target students, researchers, educators, and other professionals, seeking in-depth knowledge from academic sources and divided into segments such as academic approaches, questions, and assessments - presented in the informal and pleasant way that are characteristic of podcasts. The workshop transitioned into the creative podcast production process, where the students learned practical techniques for developing, scripting, and structuring their podcasts. In the hands-on part of the workshop, they worked in the recording studio, gaining experience with the equipment and learning how to edit audio using professional software.

Being in a professional studio
By the end of the workshop, participants had gained a solid understanding of the key elements involved in producing an academic podcast and felt prepared to begin their own projects. Reflecting on the experience, Iris de Koning, an EUR Liberal Arts & Sciences student enrolled in the minor, shared her thoughts: "I really enjoyed the podcast workshop and found it incredibly informative. Before attending, I had no idea where to even begin with creating a podcast, so the workshop provided me with a clear overview of how the process works. Working with the studio equipment was a highlight – it helped me get comfortable with the software and the experience of being in a professional studio environment.” 
Overall, the workshop not only provided valuable technical skills but also fostered confidence and enthusiasm among the students as they embarked on their podcasting assignments.

Addressing complex global challenges
For this year’s assignments, the students explored the importance of interdisciplinary approaches in addressing complex global challenges. They take you along their fascinating stories and interviews in finding dedicated solutions to global complex challenges.

Listen to their podcasts! (via SoundCloud)