CAS Office of Experiential Learning and Discovery

In each of these courses, you’ll learn the skill of telling compelling nonfiction stories in sound.

(You can take all of these courses, but if you do, we suggest taking them in different semesters.)

In all courses you will:

• Record audio using professional recording equipment (Zoom H5 audio recorder, Electro-Voice RE50B handheld microphone, DJI Mic 3 lavalier microphone, and more)
• Mix stories using professional audio editing software (Adobe Audition)
• Identify story ideas
• Conduct compelling interviews
• Discuss, follow and question journalistic and documentary storytelling ethics
• Write for broadcast
• Fact-check scripts
• Think creatively about sound
• Work effectively with an editor
• Produce several audio stories from start to finish

Produce radio news stories like the kind you hear on NPR.

This course is housed within the College of Arts and Sciences internship program and the Center for Community News. Students in this class are interns with the Community News Service (CNS), and students receive internship credit for taking this course.

What makes this course great: You’ll produce your final project — an audio news feature story — with the goal of it broadcasting on Vermont Public, our local NPR news radio station, reaching tens of thousands of listeners across the region.

What you’ll make:

• A one-minute vox pop (Example: Voices from Huntington’s town meeting; What does it mean to love someone?)
• A one-minute social media video (Example: BINGO in Bethel; Town Meeting Day in Elmore)
• A one-minute newscast spot (Example: Benefit concert by and for Vermont’s immigrant community comes to the Flynn; South Burlington school leader announces snow days through parody songs)
• A four-minute audio feature story (Examples: Fifth graders are days away from electing Vermont’s first Kid Governor; Grammy-nominated pianist returns home to Barre Opera House)

Prerequisites and restrictions: This course requires at least sophomore standing to register. There are no other prerequisites. Having previous experience with journalism and audio/video production classes is helpful, but it’s not required.

A broad introduction to the basics of telling true stories in sound.

This course is housed in the UVM Film and Television Studies and Reporting and Documentary Storytelling programs.

What makes this course great: You get to experiment with creative nonfiction audio storytelling.

What you’ll make:

• A one-minute vox pop (Example: What does it mean to love someone?)
• A three-minute non-narrated profile (Examples: Fishing with Andrew; Cooking with Chepe; Farming with Bekah; Dropping in with Mo)
• A ten-minute podcast (Examples: Dear Panda; We need to talk about the ethics of true crime; So much for Plan A; How imaginary worlds shape our real one)

Prerequisites and restrictions: FTS and RDS majors/minors only for the first week of registration. Prerequisites enforced by the system: FTS 1400, or FTS 1420, or FTS 1430. All prerequisites and restrictions can be overridden with instructor permission.  Email Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu with a note about why you’d like to take this course.

Discover the art and practice of short-form audio storytelling.

This course is housed in the UVM Film and Television Studies and Reporting and Documentary Storytelling programs.

What makes this course great: You get to experiment with creative audio storytelling. In this course, we will explore the art of short-form audio through creative exercises, careful listening, discussions, and play. Love podcasts? Want to experiment with sound as a medium? Want to play and be pushed creatively? This is the course for you!

What you’ll make:

• Several 3-minute creative audio stories, similar to what you might hear on Third Coast Short Docs or Audio Flux.

Prerequisites and restrictions: FTS and RDS majors/minors only for the first week of registration. Prerequisites enforced by the system: FTS 1400, or FTS 1420, or FTS 1430. All prerequisites and restrictions can be overridden with instructor permission. Email Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu with a note about why you’d like to take this course.

Tell the human stories behind the legislation.

This course is housed in the UVM Film and Television Studies and Reporting and Documentary Storytelling programs.

What makes this course great:

What you’ll make:

Prerequisites and restrictions: FTS and RDS majors/minors only for the first week of registration. Prerequisites enforced by the system: FTS 1400, or FTS 1420, or FTS 1430. All prerequisites and restrictions can be overridden with instructor permission. Email Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu with a note about why you’d like to take this course.

This is a PAID production internship with Vermont Public, our local NPR news radio station.

What makes this internship great: Interns support the production of daily news and podcasts at Vermont Public. They are embedded with a team at Vermont Public — like the Vermont Public newsroom, marketing and events team, Brave Little State podcast, and Vermont Edition daily show — as producers.

Their work includes pitching story ideas, field reporting, producing spot and feature stories, producing podcast and daily show segments, booking interviews, logging and cutting tape, researching and fact checking, writing and publishing web pieces, producing social media content, producing events, doing marketing research, and more.

This is a true internship (not a class) even though you get class credit. You’ll work 15-20 hours a week at the radio station as a member of their team. We’re looking for people who are curious, self-motivated, excited to be part of a professional team, able to complete tasks and meet deadlines, and ready for the responsibility of producing news stories and podcasts for an award-winning newsroom.

For more information, see the Vermont Public UVM Production Intern job description.

Prerequisites and restrictions: Any currently enrolled UVM undergraduate studying journalism, media, communication or with an interest in public media journalism are eligible. Previous experience with journalistic reporting and audio production strongly preferred. Must be authorized to work in the United States. This internship is not open to recent graduates.

Compensation: Interns earn $17 per hour.

Internship dates: The internships run during UVM’s fall, spring and summer semesters. Each internship term is one semester long. There will be two interns hired each semester, for a total of six interns a year.

Vermont Public is home to Vermont’s public radio (NPR) and public television (PBS) stations. Vermont Public’s award-winning newsroom produces local news and educational programming, serving Vermont with trusted, relevant and essential information.

Vermont Public’s local and national programs are broadly available for free on statewide radio and television broadcast networks, digital platforms, social media and in communities throughout the region.

Vermont Public was created in 2021 when Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS merged into a unified public media organization.

Vermont Public is an independent, locally owned and operated community licensee, which means that their license is owned by the community, not a governmental agency. Vermont Public’s primary source of funding — more than half — comes from more than 40,000 members making donations in all amounts.

No!

Both audio storytelling courses require no previous journalism or audio experience to be successful. In fact, we love students who are brand new to the audio game. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.

We’re looking for students who are curious, engaged in their communities, love to write, love to meet new people, and are excited about telling true stories using sound.

If you do have previous audio and journalism experience, these courses will support you as you continue to experiment and grow your skills.

Some of the courses have prerequisites. All prerequisites and restrictions can be overridden with instructor permission. Email Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu with a note about why you’d like to take this course.

The paid internship does require previous experience.

Yes! There are many radio producers who are Deaf and/or hard of hearing, including NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.

There are exciting innovations in the ASL and radio space, including Connecticut Public’s show Radio for the Deaf, subtitled multilingual audio projects from Radio Atlas, and this student-produced radio story about Deaf theater that’s captioned in English and ASL.

It’s critically important that our newsrooms reflect our community. In this class, we use several guides, including Disability Matters: A tool kit for newsrooms to better serve the disability community to build and maintain an equitable learning environment.

Got questions and ideas? Email instructor Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu to talk about what’s possible.

Probably! Email Kelsey at kkupfere@uvm.edu to set up a time to chat.

“I am learning so so much in this class. Honestly, it’s my favorite class I’ve taken in college so far.”

—Public Radio Journalism student, spring 2025

“Interning with Vermont Public’s newsroom has been an incredible opportunity to engage with Vermont’s people and places. I’ve learned a lot about what kinds of stories matter to people, and how I can thoughtfully move through the journalism process, from interviewing to editing. I love how curiosity and care are prioritized in this workspace. Here, I am encouraged to push myself and grow as a student, a journalist, and a person.”

—Myla van Lynde, Vermont Public newsroom intern fall 2025

“This has been my favorite class I’ve taken since coming to college. It is definitely challenging, but it’s AWESOME. I love getting to use the audio equipment and learn the editing software. I feel like we’re learning skills that will be helpful outside of this class, which I think is important.”

—Public Radio Journalism student, spring 2025

“Public Radio Journalism expanded my skills in audio editing, writing, publishing, and interviewing — all real-world, transferrable skills! Everything was well-paced and well-taught. Kelsey is an amazing professor. She presented an abundance of materials and resources to help us do our work and make sure we were prepared, and she went out of her way to help me succeed. She made me love radio journalism.”

—Public Radio Journalism student, fall 2025