| From the issue dated October 14, 2005 |
A former broadcaster, Michael C. Keith was perplexed by the absence of analytic courses on radio in college. "If you have a program examining media in society, why not examine the very first electronic mass media?" says the adjunct associate professor of communications at Boston College. "Radio has been so eclipsed by TV that people overlooked the obvious: that radio was shaping our culture decades before television."
Students in Mr. Keith's seminar, "Radio in Culture and Society," have the opportunity to hear for themselves the power of broadcast radio. They study radio's relationship to counterculture, fringe groups, and minorities, including the role of women in broadcasting and the rise of talk radio in the 1990s. Students discuss the agenda of 1960s "hippie" radio, the co-optation of underground formats by commercial stations, and how American Indians and gay and lesbian groups have used radio to draw attention to issues of social justice.
The course is, naturally, heavy on listening. And, says Mr. Keith, for many this has been an eye-, or rather, ear-opening experience. "Most students are not aware that there's anything on radio besides rap music," he says. In a recent class, he played a 1944 broadcast of the then-popular comedy program Amos 'n' Andy, to demonstrate racial stereotyping. "It was the first time the students had ever heard it," he says. "They were shocked."
He encourages students to be mindful of the themes of his class when listening to contemporary radio. "I say right from the start that students are lucky in this course. Our lab is available 24/7 — all you have to do is turn it on."
Students say:
"Coming from a TV generation, I had never sat through a radio program," says Anthony Gutierrez, a senior majoring in communications and Hispanic studies. "At first I found it hard to concentrate, I was so used to the visual aspect of entertainment. But radio really forces you to use your imagination."
Reading list:
Students read chapters from Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting, by Donna L. Halper (M.E. Sharpe, 2001); Voice Over: The Making of Black Radio, by William Barlow (Temple U. Press, 1999); and Mr. Keith's Voices in the Purple Haze: Underground Radio in the Sixties (Praeger, 1997) and Signals in the Air: Native Broadcasting in America (Praeger, 1995).
Assignments:
Each student writes a 20-page research paper and takes midterm and final exams. Students also prepare oral presentations and submit weekly essays on assigned topics. Paula Wasley
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