School of Communication Podcast Series Hits Airwaves

The Campus on the Common podcast covers a plethora of topics, including journalism, women in journalism, streaming, political advocacy, Big Data, eSports, sports communication, how new trends and technology affect the communications, political polling, and more.

By Molly Loughman

Emerson’s School of Communication‘s new public podcast, “Campus on the Common,” is giving a voice to the field of communication through the academic lens of communication industry experts, from Emerson and around the world.

“Campus on the Common: Bright Ideas from the School of Communication at Emerson College” is available now on Apple Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud, Stitcher Radio and all other podcast outlets. The 20- to 45-minute weekly podcast covers topics ranging from the development of communication technologies, to media ethics and 21st century storytelling formats.

“We want people to know [Emerson College] is a place where we do research and develop cutting-edge innovation, in terms of the way we teach and prepare our students,” said School of Communication Dean Raul Reis. “We are very much invested in changing and updating the curriculum. We have new majors, such as Sports Communication, and we are developing programs in other countries through global partnerships — in the last two years we launched seven different programs.”

Emerson alum Chance Dorland, an affiliated faculty member and professional podcaster who taught the Journalism Department’s first-ever class on podcasting called, “Podcasting for Change,” helped to initially produce “Campus on the Common” and get the initiative underway. Graduating from Emerson in 2009 with an IDIP degree combining journalism, broadcasting and audio engineering, Dorland worked in live radio after college in the US, South Korea, Germany, and Australia, while also pursuing his own professional podcasting service. While in South Korea, he’s reported for entities such as the BBC, CBS Radio and the CBC.

“I would like to see podcasting grow on Emerson’s campus, both with the number of podcasts being produced and the amount of audio education available for students. I’m happy [the SOC’s podcast] is going forward,” said Dorland.

Taking over for Dorland, following his pioneering efforts, is Emerson alumnus, Mark Brodie ’99, an affiliated faculty member of the Communication Studies Department. Brodie has worked as a marketing and imaging professional for nearly three decades and serves clients in five continents.

“My job [with the Campus on the Common podcast], it’s almost like traffic control. It’s getting [guests] up in the air, and keeping them flying,” said Brodie. “It represents the mission of the school. We’re involved in any number of state-of-the-art developments that affect all facets of communication. But at the same time, we’re not here to push the school — but rather the value the school creates.”

Campus on the Common covers a plethora of topics, soliciting insight from industry experts in the communication field, such as: journalism, women in journalism, streaming, political advocacy, Big Data, eSports, digital marketing and data analytics, sports communication, public relations, how new trends and technology affect the communications, political polling, media relations, communication disorders, advocacy in communications, and social media impact.

“Our faculty are called on by the media all the time for their expertise. Now we have our own channel where we can really share our expertise with the world and there are literally hundreds of topics people can talk about. Our faculty are doing really great research and have published in areas such as climate change, data feminism and data visualization, data journalism, and civic media,” said Dorland. “We hope people listen to the podcast, but also maybe use it in their classrooms, so it could be a really interesting tool. And we are doing a podcast, not just because it’s popular, but it’s an effective way to communicate and it’s an effective way to tell a story. The podcast will help us tell the story of the School of Communication.”

Brodie explained he’s excited to converse and spotlight fellow communications professionals.

“It’s a ton of fun, but it’s also an honor. I get to represent my school. I’m an Emersonian,” said Brodie. “When you look at society in general, there is no society without communications. This podcast takes a look at all the various tenants that enables a society to communicate with itself.”

New episodes are released every Thursday at 7 am EST. ​