Graphic by Matthew Fleckenstein.
MARRIAH MCKILLOP | STAFF REPORTER | mmckillo@butler.edu
A new program on campus, Butler Talks, aims to relate all Butler bulldogs to each other one podcast at a time. Catherine Pangan’s Perspectives in Leadership class allowed the creation of a “time capsule’” for Bulldogs of the past, present and future is currently in full swing.
This class aims to teach students how to be leaders outside the classroom while still incorporating a project in the Butler community. Pangan has made this a constructive course, meaning most of the work is entirely up to the students and their interests.
“This class has an approach to teaching and learning when the learner constructs their own knowledge through the building of course content and exploration,” Pangan said. “We have a backbone of readings and activities, but the deep content comes from the interests and drive from the students.”
After the class focused their passions to a specific project, they were broken up into committees such as marketing and social media. Member of the marketing committee, Kyle Belting, spoke to how the class determined what exactly their project should be about.
“Butler Talks is a podcast that gives all members of the Butler community a chance to share any story that is connected to Butler,” Kyle Belting, current graduate student of Butler’s Master of Effective Teaching and Leadership program, said. “This project idea started on the idea of gratitude, and then we realized that we have so many people at Butler who we would love to thank for making an impact on our lives.”
Although Butler Talks is in the beginning stages with only a few people who have agreed to tell their story, the students of this class are actively searching to record current students, alumni, professors, faculty and even people who live around Butler to speak about a memorable experience they associate with the Butler community. From a funny story about their first-year roommate to speaking on how a professor changed their life, there is a platform for anyone wishing to take part in this program.
“We are all coming together to represent one large thing,” Sam Sturtevant, human communication and organizational leadership major, said. “I think Butler Talks teaches people who are culturally different that, in the grand scheme of things, we all have one collective thing in common: we are all connected through the Butler community.”
Because Butler Talks relies solely on the participation from the Butler community, students highly recommend participation.
“I would encourage anyone with a connection to Butler to speak out through Butler Talks,” Belting said. “Looking back on my time as an undergrad, there are so many little moments and funny stories that I want to remember, and what better way than to archive them than through our podcast.”
The student leaders of Butler Talks want this program not only serves as a time capsule for all dawgs to enjoy, but they also hope this will allow all students to portray their unique experiences in a unique way.
“I know everyone on this campus has a story to tell and sometimes there aren’t platforms to get your word out there,” Sturtevant said. “Butler Talks is perfect for bringing the Butler Community together. Everyone here is diverse in their own way but we all have a funny or memorable Butler story we can tell.”
Butler Talks’ first podcast is currently in the making as the students in the class are replying to emails they have received. Committee members are currently reaching out to sponsors to fund this project.
The Butler Talks team encourages the entire Butler community to contact butalks@gmail.com if they wish for their story to be included.
