Students now have access to a podcast booth in the Kirkhof Center, alongside a new podcasting class starting this fall. 

The project was spearheaded by Journalism, Broadcasting and Digital Media (JBM) Professors James Ford, Len O’Kelly and Eric Harvey, who saw the need for a space dedicated to recording podcasts and other audio content for journalism students. According to faculty, it is more spacious than similar recording spaces on campus.

“Space is the most precious commodity on any college campus, and we in JBM have been pressing for an audio recording studio for years, but it’s been hard to locate a room that wasn’t being used for another purpose by another department,” Harvey said.

The new booth is in the Kirkhof Center’s basement production studio. The space was adapted over the past year in collaboration with the University’s equipment library, Production Support Resources. Currently, the suite is only available to students in JBM classes, but in the future, access will be extended to all students interested in recording digital content.

“It’s a soundproofed room with four mics and a mixing board, with space to record up to four participants,” said Harvey. “It has comfortable lighting and is far more spacious than similar audio recording spaces across campus.” 

The booth can be utilized to record podcasts, audio voiceovers, interviews and other content with professional equipment. It allows students to explore storytelling in many different formats and modes.

To go with the suite, Harvey created a new podcasting class that will begin in the Fall 2026 semester.  Harvey also assigns podcasts and audio stories to his current classes, and looks forward to using the new space. 

The JBM program is working on installing a similar studio on the second floor of Lake Superior Hall.