A History of Central Florida: The Podcast Project by Robert Cassanello (review)

A History of Central Florida: The Podcast Project is an exemplary digital public history project. It is no surprise, then, that it has won the Florida Historical Society's Hampton Dunn Award numerous times. The brainchild of University of Central Florida (UCF) professor Robert Cassanello, the project uses selected historical artifacts to tell engaging stories about different facets of Florida's history. Between 2013 and 2015, Cassanello guided students in creating fifty episodes, each ranging from approximately ten to fifteen minutes. The project is an inspirational example of how to engage students in direct historical inquiry, digital media, and community partnerships.

Tracing the history of The Podcast Project required a bit of digging in the "News" section of the website, but it appears Cassanello designed the project for students in his Historical Documentary and New Media class. He formed partnerships with over seventeen museums and historical societies willing to allow students to select and highlight pieces from their collections in the students' video podcasts. There's not a single intended audience for the series, but armchair-historians and instructors alike would find the episodes interesting and useful. A casual observer would learn about a variety of topics, teachers could introduce a particular subject in the classroom using an episode, and the institutions housing the historical artifacts selected for inclusion can use them to increase interest and draw attention to other pieces in their collections. The project was supported by UCF's RICHES (Regional Initiative to Collect the History, Experiences, and Stories of Central Florida, https://riches.cah.ucf.edu), but there was no supplemental information available explaining what that support entailed.

Each episode follows a similar format. The podcast begins with an introduction identifying the name of the project and the supporting organizations. A narrator then introduces him or herself and the podcast topic. As a video podcast, the projects weave together still images, matching up relevant images with narrations. The narrators help guide the story and provide key details, but they also bring in a variety of expert voices to add depth and authority to their analysis. I chose to watch four episodes, starting with episode 1. I then selected three more, one from each year, to see how they compared. It appears that Cassanello created the first two as samples and students created the subsequent forty-eight episodes.

Each of the episodes I viewed demonstrated mastery. The creators employed quality images and audio clips, both in terms of content and clarity. The production value was especially impressive having been done by students who likely possessed a range of technological know-how from extensive to none at the start of the project. Having done similar projects with my own students, I found myself wondering about the nuts-and-bolts production issues. What programs did the students use for editing the audio and video components? Did they conduct interviews in person or over the phone? What recording devices did they use? How long did creation and editing take? Did students work alone or in groups? Although the projects are historically informative, the UCF library website could use more information for the educator interested in replicating this type of project in her own institution or local community. I realize, however, that is not the main point of this particular website, since it is hosted through the UCF library and the primary focus is on content delivery.

As the hosting website, the UCF library could also have done much more to make the collection accessible. When The Public Historian asked me to review this project, the staff provided me with a link. It turned out to be the link to the first episode only, and there was no direct link from that page to the project's homepage and other episodes. After digging around...