This afternoon, as an extension of our previous two classes on environmental history and values, I thought I'd try a little social experiment...
Historically, music has been, and continues to be, a powerful force with the ability to communicate all manner of social and political messages across generations (see this article by Doug Ramsey in the Canadian Journal of Environmental Education for information on environmental issues and song; a link to the full PDF article is at the bottom of the page).
In this vein, I set up an internet radio station on blip.fm for the ENVS2023 course. Starting today, and for the duration of the course, students will submit songs with an environmental theme or connection to be featured on the station. Students submit song information via posts to a discussion forum hosted in Blackboard. The following details must be included:
• Name of Artist
• Name of Song
• A quote from the song's lyrics connecting it to an environmental theme
As the station "DJ" (account holder), I will post links to these tracks on the course radio station home page [Note: blip.fm creates links to .mp3 content hosted elsewhere on the internet—it does not does .mp3 files on its own servers.] All genres / decades / artists are up for grabs; the more obscure the better!
The station integrates nicely with Blackboard too, with a direct link in the sidebar:
Station DJs receive "props" (votes of approval from other listeners in the blip.fm community) each time a listener favourites a track. Our goal is to inspire 100 props by the end of the course, and generate an entertaining—and environmentally relevant—playlist in the process.
Listen now: ENVS2023 radio