Typically, University students cap off their semesters with essays, exams and projects that sum up everything they have learned in their courses. But in some cases, the audience for their work is a lot larger than a single professor and a handful of teaching assistants. One such example is ENWR 3640, “Writing with Sound,” a unique course that gives students a glimpse into the world of narrative podcast production and publishes their work for a broader audience to enjoy.
The 16-student class has been one of the University’s hidden gems for nearly a decade, especially for those looking to fulfill the second writing requirement in an unconventional way. Steph Ceraso, associate professor of digital writing and rhetoric, created the course to help students hone their writing skills while harnessing her research in sound studies and composition.
“When I got hired in 2016, I developed ‘Writing with Sound’ as a kind of experiment, and it has become my signature course,” Ceraso said. “It’s truly my favorite class to teach.”
Throughout the semester, students produce a season of an original podcast series of their own creation completely from scratch. In recent years, the course has focused on mental wellness around Grounds as part of the “U OK UVA?” series, which lasted for three seasons over the course of three semesters. However, this past fall, students had the chance to start fresh with a brand new series. After voting on a variety of potential themes, the students in the course landed on the concept of failure, and the podcast “Failing into Place” was born. Focusing on the young adult perspective, the four-episode show explores topics such as an overreliance on artificial intelligence in academia and the experience of students who dropped out of college.
Specifically, students in the class are split into teams of four to create one 15-20 minute episode per team that blends narration, interviews and sound design. At the end of each semester, the four episodes make up a larger podcast series. Through a variety of exercises and workshops, they cultivate skills to become more thoughtful listeners, writers and editors. Everything on the syllabus is accomplished in pursuit of completing a polished piece that will be released on major platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, for the world to hear.
The four episodes are published together at the end of the semester to create a cohesive, comprehensive season of the podcast. The final product is the result of 16 weeks of brainstorming, collaboration and revision.
Fourth-year College student Nicole Connolly described the challenges and benefits of working on a single project for an entire semester.
“A project like this takes trial, error and revision to be truly successful,” Connolly said. “At the same time, working on only one project is beneficial because you can take lots of time to perfect your work.”
Over the course of the semester, students have the chance to refine their episodes based on feedback from classmates and guest listeners who stop by for a week in the second half of the semester. In past years, these have included professional podcasters such as Lulu Miller, co-host of the acclaimed show “Radiolab.” Ceraso said that she finds having multiple cycles of revision and input from various people results in a much stronger show, and it allows students to feel a deeper connection with their work.
Through the course’s flexibility and outlet for expression, the students are able to channel curiosity for significant issues in a nontraditional format. Connolly particularly appreciated the creative freedom the class offers.
“My class and I got to create the theme of the podcast ourselves and each branch out in our own creative directions for each episode,” Connolly said. “Most professors don’t allow you that type of freedom … our professor, Steph Ceraso, always trusted, pushed and put her faith in us to accomplish this project.”
In line with the non-traditional medium of expression, a major focus of the course is teaching students to write for the ear as opposed to the academic style they have grown accustomed to. They have to ensure their writing will resonate with listeners when spoken aloud, which often involves cutting back on complexity in favor of a more streamlined, natural voice. The pacing and flow of the narration is also crucial to keep a listener’s attention. Ceraso explained how participating in this process helps students sharpen their communication skills.
“Many students tell me that learning to write this way has helped them improve their writing in other classes — that they’re using less fluff and academic jargon and instead focusing on communicating their thinking in lucid ways,” Ceraso said. “Getting to the essence of an idea is difficult work, but it makes the writing so much better.”
In addition to scriptwriting, students conduct interviews for their episodes and learn how to use the audio editing software Audacity, an approachable yet professional technology for podcasts and voiceovers. From the writing practice to the technical know-how, the course offers a well-rounded experience in every step of the creative process. Fourth-year College student Irene Si said she enjoyed stepping outside of her comfort zone over the course of the semester.
“I had zero audio editing or storytelling experience coming in, but I ended the course with an entirely new skillset,” Si said. “Taking on new experiences like this gives me the courage to take on similar creative challenges in the future when I find a new medium that piques my interest.”
According to Ceraso, the experience of leaving the course with new skills and passions is common among “Writing with Sound” students. She said she has been consistently blown away by their growth as writers and the quality of their final podcasts.
“I find that students are extremely motivated,” Ceraso said. “Each semester they put an enormous amount of effort into the class, and I’m so proud of what they have been able to produce with no previous experience.”
“Failing into Place” can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. In addition, all previous shows produced by “Writing with Sound” students are hosted on the Virginia Audio Collective website. A different section of “Writing with Sound,” taught by Asst. Prof. Piers Gelly, will be taking place in the Spring 2026 semester.
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