FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Sonic Borderlands Digital Project.
Mapping the Sonic Border: A Digital Exploration of Sound, Space, and Identity
Assignment Description
This culminating assignment invites students to synthesize theoretical, practical, and experiential learning into an original digital project. Drawing from the course themes—borders, identity, migration, power, and sound—students will conceptualize, design, and produce a Sonic Borderlands digital project that explores the intersections between sound and border discourses.
Students will:
● Capture or curate original sound recordings from a specific border-related site or theme
● Develop a sound map, sound journal, or digital audio essay that incorporates spatial, cultural, and political analysis
● Integrate geographic or narrative layers to contextualize the recordings
● Reflect critically on how their project reveals or challenges border dynamics, identity formations, or power relations
Assignment Components:
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Project Proposal (10%)
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Submit a 1-page proposal outlining your topic, theoretical framework, and methodology (e.g., field recordings, interviews, archival sounds, digital mapping).
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Include a short bibliography of at least 3 sources from the course.
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Due: Week 4
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Sound Fieldwork + Listening Journal (20%)
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Conduct fieldwork using techniques learned in class: soundwalks, direct sound capture, or ambient recordings.
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Maintain a journal (written/audio) reflecting on your experience and observations.
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Include at least 3 sound entries (3–5 minutes each) with contextual notes.
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Due: Week 7
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Digital Sound Mapping Project (40%)
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Create an interactive digital piece (options include: a web-based sound map, GIS-based project, podcast episode, or audiovisual essay).
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Must incorporate:
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Minimum of 3 original sound recordings
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Analytical or narrative framework (textual, oral, or visual)
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Reference to at least 2 theoretical concepts from class (e.g., sonic agency, border epistemologies, acoustic territory, decolonial listening)
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Platform options: Google Earth, StoryMapJS, SoundCloud + embedded media, custom website, etc.
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Due: Week 12
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Critical Reflection (20%)
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4–5 pages written reflection that addresses:
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Your positionality as a listener/recorder
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Challenges or insights from the sound mapping process
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How does your project relate to broader border and sound discourses
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What you learned about power, identity, and place through sound
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Due: Final week
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Presentation + Peer Review (10%)
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5–7 minutes presentation of your project with audio playback
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Participate in a peer review session to offer/receive feedback
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Week 13–14
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Learning Goals Adressed:
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Understand complex relationships between sound, space, and sociopolitical borders
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Develop critical and creative methodologies for engaging with borderlands
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Practice interdisciplinary analysis by merging fieldwork, theory, and digital design
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Reflect on the act of listening as political, embodied, and situated
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Promote cultural awareness and creative expression in response to contested geographies