Media Arts

In film, sound design is expressive, immersive, and dense, but once complete it’s fixed in time forever. This course will explore ways to translate the technical and narrative approaches of cinematic sound design to the dynamic context of live performance (dance, theater, puppetry, etc.). Using a variety of tools and practices from Ableton Live to field recording, students will learn how to create cinematic sonic experiences that are responsive to and imbued with liveness. Final projects will culminate in an evening of live sound-based performances.

Audio storytelling insinuates itself into the day-to-day unlike other narrative forms. People listen to podcasts while they do the dishes, drive to work, or walk the dog. In this hands-on course, we will learn to produce a podcast from idea to final sound mix, and explore the unique opportunities that the podcast form affords the storyteller. Students will complete several short audio exercises, and one larger podcast project. The class will be held remotely, with an emphasis on remote recording techniques and what it means to document this moment using tools of non-fiction, fiction, and oral history.

This course explores "immersive performance," "alternate reality," and "transmedia" gaming, culminating in student projects for a Spring 2026 immersive event at The Regenstein Library, co-hosted by the Fourcast Lab at The University of Chicago. Through the history of interactive performances from Tudor-era spectacles to tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons and Nordic LARPS students will develop skills in scriptwriting, character creation, improvisation, digital platforms, and experience design.

We will examine Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) and Alternate Reality Games (ARG), analyzing how these formats blur the lines between reality and performance while fostering audience engagement. By dissecting their mechanics, students will learn to craft interactive narratives that build community and invite participation.

Collaboration with library staff will be essential, allowing students to utilize the library’s resources and spaces for creative storytelling. The course embraces the idea of libraries as hubs of cultural innovation, positioning them as both venue and partner in immersive storytelling. Guest lecturers, including Patrick Jagoda, Ashlyn Sparrow, Sandy Weisz, and David Feiner, will provide insights into immersive storytelling, game design, and audience interaction, offering professional perspectives on participatory experiences.

This class explores the potential of the podcast as a form of ethical artistic and social practice. Through the lens of oral history and its associated values—including prioritizing voices that are not often heard, reciprocity, complicating narratives, and the archive—we will explore ways to tell stories of people and communities in sound. Students will develop a grounding in oral history practices and ethics, as well as the skills to produce compelling oral narratives, including audio editing, recording scenes and ambient sound, and using music. During the quarter, students will have several opportunities to practice interviewing and will design their own oral history project. This class is appropriate for students with no audio experience, as well as students who have taken TAPS 28320 The Mind as Stage: Podcasting.

In film, sound design is expressive, immersive, and dense, but once complete it’s fixed in time forever. This course will explore ways to translate the technical and narrative approaches of cinematic sound design to the dynamic context of live performance (dance, theater, puppetry, etc.). Using a variety of tools and practices from Ableton Live to field recording, students will learn how to create cinematic sonic experiences that are responsive to and imbued with liveness. Final projects will culminate in an evening of live sound-based performances.

In contemporary performing arts, projection design is more integral than ever, enhancing immersive experiences and challenging traditional staging conventions. This course explores the projection designer’s process on projects including drama, opera, dance, musical theater, and themed entertainment. Students investigate, discuss, and prepare for the design challenges found in each unique production environment. We will emphasize integrating imagery and video in a theatrical context as well as installation work. Students will become familiar with the most common varieties of projection design equipment and software–including Adobe Suite as well as playback software for theater including Qlab and Isadora, and will learn standard procedures and practices for a projection designer. Final projects will culminate with a live projection mapping presentation.

The creation of a TV Pilot is a unique, exciting, and demanding task for a writer. In addition to the responsibility of telling a compelling story, writers are also charged with setting up a "world" and establishing characters and plotlines that will sustain the show over multiple episodes and seasons. In this class, we will delve into the processes required to succeed in this challenging endeavor. This includes creation of pitch materials, plot and character development, outlining, creation of a show bible, and ultimately, writing the pilot episode of an original TV series.

The classroom will function as part development workshop and part informal TV writer’s room. Through weekly reading and writing assignments we will dissect successful entries into the TV space and tap into our artistic inspirations to evolve our show concepts. From there, we would collaborate as a class by actively brainstorming and workshopping our scripts and series. By the end of the quarter, each student will complete a draft of an original pilot script, as well as a short "Series Bible" detailing the broader scope of the show.

This course is designed to help the emerging writer focus their creativity into a viable feature film project and screenplay. This includes structure, format, exposition, characterization, dialogue, voice-over, and other aspects of visual storytelling for the screen. Weekly meetings include a brief lecture period, screenings of scenes from selected films, extended discussion, assorted readings and writing assignments. Because this is primarily a writing class, students should expect to deliver four to five pages of written material—including story development materials or screenplay pages—each week.

This course will introduce students to the burgeoning field of immersive puzzle design. Students will develop, implement, and playtest puzzles that are suited for a range of experiences: from the tabletop to the immersive, from online puzzle hunts to broad-scoped alternate reality games (ARG). Students in this course will work directly with master puzzler Sandor Weisz, the commissioner of The Mystery League.

Audio storytelling insinuates itself into the day-to-day unlike other narrative forms. People listen to podcasts while they do the dishes, drive to work, or walk the dog. In this hands-on course, we will learn to produce a podcast from idea to final sound mix, and explore the unique opportunities that the podcast form affords the storyteller. Students will complete several short audio exercises, and one larger podcast project. The class will be held remotely, with an emphasis on remote recording techniques and what it means to document this moment using tools of non-fiction, fiction, and oral history.