Getting punk and personal: creating and evaluating podcasts and zines as pedagogy for teaching and learning in critical geographical methodologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Punk has its roots in the garage bands of the 1960s and 1970s as expressions of resistance to mainstream music. Punk, however, has evolved over time to encompass rebellion and an ethic of DIY (i.e. do it yourself) not just in music but in other domains to reject the status quo. Punk can be found in the university too. Podcasting and zines, for example, are such DIY approaches for postsecondary pedagogy. In this paper, we share our perspectives on the punk creation of a podcast series and zine associated with a course interested in engaging graduate students in critical geographical methodologies in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This work came about through a synchronous online seminar that created space for graduate students to get punk and personal in their approach to engaging with course materials. We (Kiera, Saskia, Sam, and Erica) created a four-part podcast series and zine, “Getting Personal” that was submitted for evaluation in relation to the course objectives. When the course concluded, the professor (Heather) encouraged the podcasters to broadcast their DIY project. Doing so sparked mutual interest in further engagement with theory and praxis towards the work presented here; we speculate about the utility of punk projects as a pedagogical tool for uncertain futures.