KINGSTON, R.I. – March 3 – The URI Center for the Humanities is hosting “Ways of Knowing,” an audio event presented by the radio show World According to Sound at 7 pm on March 11. Co-producers Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett will be hosting guest lectures, media training for faculty, and hold student workshops focusing on podcasting, audio production and sonic storytelling.

For 70 minutes, the audience will sit in a dark room surrounded by powerful speakers while wearing eye masks. The event walks through vibrations of the Golden Gate Bridge, footsteps of ants, ancient recordings and contemporary research translated into soundscapes.

“We’re so glued to our phones and we’re not unplugging and being in the moment,” director of the Center for the Humanities, Eve Sterne said. “We’re constantly looking for that next email, that next text message, that next like on social media and I think that this is a way of being mindful and in the moment and thinking about what we can learn and experience from sound, from an immersive sound experience.”

The event aims to inspire attentive listening, encouraging audience members to step away from their screens and reconsider the humanities through sound. While much of today’s media and information is consumed through visuals, “Ways of Knowing” offers an opportunity to rethink how knowledge is formed and communicated when interpreted through sound. For communication students, this offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the role of sound across media.

“So much of communication is based on sound and listening, whether it’s television, podcasting or radio,” Sterne said. “This could open new ideas about what students can do with sound.”

In addition to the evening performance, Hoff and Harnett will present a free afternoon lecture titled “Media Objects” at 3 p.m. on March 11. The talk will explore how everyday objects shape perception and meaning, expanding the day’s focus on how media influences human experience.

“I think that will likely produce the kind of discomfort that is actually really productive for anybody who’s receptive to learning something new about the world,” Scott Kushner, chair of communication studies, said. “This is bringing the academic world of sound studies, which I’ve known as a theoretical category or a tradition within the humanities branch of media studies.”

The current landscape of digital media prioritizes visuals, particularly through social media platforms built around short-form video content. Much of this content is designed to be watched without sound, even relying on captions as users scroll. By removing sight and emphasizing hearing, Ways of Knowing challenges this concept.

“By jostling us and forcing us to spend an hour in the dark, hearing things by deprivileging the sense that is really the gateway into that universe, I think it has the opportunity to bring the stakes of the immediate environment that we take for granted to the surface,” Kushner said.

The Center for Humanities hopes the event will resonate across majors, from humanities and communication students to members of the wider URI community.

“We’ve never done anything like this before,” Sterne said. “Most of our programming is a speaker at a podium. This is different. I’m very excited about the immersive sound experience and how it might inspire us to think differently about the humanities.”

Ways of Knowing will take place March 11 at 7 p.m. Location and registration details are available through the URI Center for the Humanities website. The afternoon lecture, Media Objects, begins at 3 p.m. and is open to the public.

Written by Erin Malinn ’28, journalism, Intern for the College of Arts and Sciences