In August 2021, ten students from our Screen Scoring program composed music for podcasts through Ignite Change: Impactful Storytelling Through Audio – a new NYU podcasting fellowship, whose goals are to examine issues of inequality and prepare students for careers in audio storytelling. The fellowship pairs students with NYU researchers who offer their expertise on social justice issues to guide the reporting process. The fellows also take part in workshops designed to teach them the art of audio storytelling, podcast project management, production, and recording.
NYU Steinhardt Screen Scoring students Carmen Lustik, John McQuaig, Shuhui Yao, Andrew Goehring, Cal Freundlich, Devin Pride, Alexandra Funes-Salazar, Brittany Harris, Josue Vera, and Eugene Markin composed original music for each of the three episodes that have been released. Participating in the program enhanced the students’ academic experience while giving them the opportunity to help draw attention to the social impact of groundbreaking NYU research.
The fellowship is a partnership between the Cross-Cutting Initiative on Inequality, the NYU Production Lab, and the Wasserman Center for Career Development. The podcasts are available through the NYU Production Lab’s LabCast and Spotify. The first three episodes covered an array of topics: an ethnomusicologist at NYU Abu Dhabi who has spent his career researching Kuwaiti pearl diving music; the lasting effects of discrimination in film for people of color; and the University's Vote 2020 Fellowship, which focused on voter turnout.