Special Projects, Harvard University Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Cambridge, MA
Posted December 13, 2015
The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI) is looking for 2 creative students to work on two separate projects related to our forthcoming exhibition: Radio Contact: Tuning In to Politics, Technology and Culture (opening March 10, 2016). The two projects are web-based and thus require basic programming skills and expertise. A $1,000 stipend will be paid after completion of each project. The two projects are:
PROJECT ONE: We are creating a Foley Stage in the exhibition itself, where visitors will be asked to create sound effects on short pre-recorded excerpts from 4 different radio plays. The recordings have been produced by the Harvard Voice Actors’ Guild. The CHSI will provide a diverse set of everyday objects to create the sound effects. What we want is a web-based app that can work on an iPad, and will do the following:
- Display the text of the radio play to let visitors know what sound is supposed to go where
- Let visitors record their sound effects “on top of” the voice recording of their choice
- Let visitors playback their creation. If they don’t like it, they can retry
- When they like what they created, they can share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc.
- All creations should be stored in the app to let visitors in the gallery listen to what others have created
- Leave short feedback of this activity using SurveyMonkey
The overall design should be simple and appealing, and the app robust. Stipend of $1,000. Deadline March 1, 2016.
PROJECT TWO: A grad student from BU is producing 6 short radio stories about people around Boston who have contributed to the history of radio broadcasting in the last 50 years. The project consists of two parts:
The most important one is to create a webpage hosting these radio stories so that visitors can listen to them at home on their computer and in the exhibition itself, using an iPad. The design of that page will be influenced by the design of the exhibition and will be done with the radio stories’ creator. (Actually, something like the Critical Media Practice website would be wonderful!) CHSI will soon be moving its own website to OpenScholar.
A sub component of this webpage is to create a visual archive of images and videos linked to the history of radio. This part will necessitate research on the Internet to locate and link relevant material. This should not be seen as a comprehensive archive, but rather as a separate and creative sub-project that could be seen as an original contribution to the exhibition.
The overall design should be simple and appealing, and the webpage robust. Stipend of $1,000. Deadline March 1, 2016.
If you are interested please contact Peter Galison, Faculty Director of the CHSI ([email protected]) or Jean-François Gauvin, Director of Administration ([email protected]). Please include a CV and a short paragraph mentioning your interest in the project.