The popular hands-on series Wednesdays in the Workshop returns to The Workshop on the lower level of James Branch Cabell Library. Each session is at 3 p.m. in The Workshop. 

This semester, Innovative Media introduces two series within the Wednesdays in the Workshop lineup:

1. Accessibility Series: Virginia Commonwealth University embraces the concepts of Universal Design. This series explores the intersections of media technologies and issues of accessibility for people with visual, auditory, sensory or other barriers to consuming and making media. This series is in partnership with the Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity (SAEO).
2. Extended Reality Series: Emerging technologies touch our lives in many ways. From phones to smart homes, from schools to hospitals, the applications for virtual, augmented and mixed reality are changing constantly and dramatically as technology advances. This three-part Wednesday in the Workshop series covers direct applications of these technologies. It focuses less on exploring and more on how people are making things in virtual environments.

Here is the full schedule including the two mini-series. 

Schedule

Jan. 22

What Even Is a Multimodal Project? (90 min.)

Hannah Franz, Assistant Professor and Interim Director of the FILL, Department of Focused Inquiry

Join us for a session designed specifically to help with your UNIV-112 multimodal project. Learn about the software and equipment you have access to through the Workshop (cameras, recorders and editing stations) so that you can work smarter not harder for a successful project.

Jan. 29

Glitch, Plz! (90 min.)

Carlise Kramer, Graduate Student, Art Education

This workshop introduces forms and modes of glitch art and offers demonstrations of different techniques. Bring your own laptop to participate in activities.

Feb. 5

Accessibility Series: Video Capturing and Captioning (60 min.)

Jonathan Siler, Evening Supervisor and Assistant Circulation Manager, VCU Libraries

As universities respond to accessibility issues in teaching, adding captions to instructional videos and online courses is a priority. This workshop covers the basics of planning, creating, captioning and uploading video content that serves hearing-impaired users. The principles of Universal Design for Learning will be discussed. VCU requires captioning of any video (lectures and scholarly presentations) published on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or any other publicly available platform.

Feb. 12

Accessibility Series: Graphic Design (60 min.)
Aisha McGriff, Instructional Designer, ALTLab

How do you balance aesthetics and accessibility in design? This workshop covers some of the basic tenets of accessible graphic design, while also demonstrating techniques for creating visually effective materials.

Feb. 19

Accessibility Series: Design of Assistive Technology (90 min.)
Dianne V. Pawluk, Associate Professor and ABET Coordinator, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Bryson Josiah Goolsby & Hyun Woo Kim, Graduate Students

Assistive technologies are often thought of as devices that only support folks with disabilities, however some of our most useful tools, such as autofocus camera functions, speech-to-text and even the potato peeler have come from the development of assistive technologies. This workshop is a crash course on design methods and principles for assistive technology followed by a mini-group hackathon. Bring your own laptop to participate.

Feb. 26

Podcasting 101 (90 min.)
Allison Bennet Dyche, Director, VCU Student Media Center

This workshop covers the basics of podcasting: what it is, how to plan a podcast, how to record materials and how to edit using the free and open-source program Audacity. Bring your own laptop to follow along.

March 4

Making with Makey-Makeys (90 min.)
Ryan Patton, Associate Professor, Department of Art Education

This workshop covers the basics of using makey-makeys for physical computing and interactive artworks. These devices are simple and easy to use and can be combined in a number of complex and meaningful ways. Bring your own laptop for creative play.

March 18

Effective Research Poster Design or Else! (120 min.)
Eric Johnson, Head of Innovative Media, VCU Libraries

In this hands-on workshop, learn how designing with your audience in mind (choosing color, font, image and layout) is the magical key to communicating your research.

March 25

Photoshop Basics (60 min.)
Jacie Dannhardt, Student and Workshop Staff, CommArts Department

This workshop teaches the basics of using Photoshop for photo manipulation. It will cover the steps for importing, editing and exporting photographs as well as preparing documents for printing. Bring your own laptop to participate.

April 1

After Effects: Animation Basics (60 min.)
Tiffani Green, Student and Workshop Staff, Kinetic Imaging Department

This overview of the workflow for animation using Adobe After Effects covers basic file organization, importing media types, hotkeys, keyframes, rendering and exporting. Bring your own laptop to follow along.

April 8

What Even is a Multimodal Project? (90 min.)
Hannah Franz, Assistant Professor and Interim Director of the FILL, Department of Focused Inquiry

This session is designed specifically to help you with your UNIV 112 multimodal project. Learn about the software and equipment you have access to through the Workshop (cameras, recorders and editing stations) so that you can work smarter not harder for a successful project.

April 15

Extended Reality Series: Create Your Own Snapchat Filter (90 min.)
Alexis Escalante Nolasco, Student, Department of Art Education

How does Snapchat work? This workshop covers the basics and the software to create custom Snapchat filters, while also looking at some of the applications of this technology in the art world. Bring your own laptop.

April 22

Extended Reality Series: Making in Virtual Reality (120 min.)
Ken Hopson, Manager, Innovative Media, VCU Libraries

This workshop offers an in-depth look at all the virtual reality tools available at the Workshop. We will cover everything from setting up a virtual space as well as the applications of it in the real world. Participants will explore and make their own virtual objects.

May 6

Exam Break + Make: Build Your Own Contact Microphone
Tony Swenson, Student and Workshop Staff, Kinetic Imaging Department

Join us for a workshop on building your own contact microphone. Rather than amplifying sound in the air around us like most microphones, a contact microphone amplifies mechanical vibrations in solid objects. These recordings expose an infinite and amplified universe of sound that sonically reflects things we cannot see. We will teach basic soldering skills and show you how to solder up a piezo-electric pickup and house it sturdily in a recycled bottle cap.