Towards New Acoustic Narratives on University Campuses: Potential as Non-formal Educational Tools

Abstract

University campuses are social communities with their own traditions, customs, and even culture. Those traditions’ history and evolution dramatically influence how students learn, professors teach, and other university employees interact. However, this influence is not apparent and, therefore, often neglected. Most university students do not know their university’s history, which worsens their ability to fully take advantage of the possibilities university life offers them. This study analyzes how to use new technologies and narratives to convey that information to students and university personnel. In this case, the Polytechnic University of Valencia Campus de Vera has been studied through a series of sound essays distributed online as podcasts. The sound essays reflect on the university’s history, the architectural environment’s influence on social interactions and non-formal learning, the soundscape of the campus and its relationship with university users, and the limits of the university itself and the speculative future. The approach comprises three distinct stages. The initial stage involves conducting a literature review of UPV’s history and examining architectural projects and published books related to the university. This step is essential for contextualizing the study. The second phase entails capturing campus soundscapes through ambisonics microphones, conducting sound walks with binaural microphones, and conducting interviews with professors, students, and other staff members. The final stage involves editing the audio recordings using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). After the study, it can be concluded that using new means of communication can foster the interest of the university community in knowing and understanding the history of their university and the role they play in it. That ultimately can create students that are more aware of their own context. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.