University of New England

A second option to fulfill the Applied Sociological Experience is for students to take part in the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies program,. Website address is www.salt.edu .
The Undergraduate Program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies can be thought of as a domestic “study abroad” program. It complements campus-based education by providing the opportunity to spend a semester of study actively engaged in field research and the opportunity to focus for a semester on one of three mediums of documentary expression: photography, radio, and nonfiction writing.

In each of these areas students will actively be engaged in the exploration of culture, politics, and society through experiential learning. Salt’s undergraduate program operates within the framework of Salt’s graduate program. Although undergraduates attend the same classes as graduate students, they are evaluated as undergraduates.

All courses are taken at the Salt Institute in Portland and field work can be conducted anywhere in Maine. This program helps students prepare for a wide range of careers. Students have used Salt as a springboard into journalism, photography, graduate studies in sociology and anthropology, and social services.

Photo used with permission by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Photo Copyright by Nicole Schilit.

Credits

Photograph by Kelsey Robinov,  Sociology Major
Courtesy of the Salt Institute

Students will earn 16 credits for the Salt experience. These credits are granted cumulatively as part of SOC 492: Applied Sociological Experience: Salt Institute. That means each student gets one grade for the total experience at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
Majors in fields other than sociology will receive 16 credits of general elective. If a student wants to use these credits to fulfill other college, major, or core requirements, they should confer with their major advisor to determine what requirements the Salt experience may fulfill. It is recommended that students take this in the spring of their third year or the fall of their fourth year.

Application

UNE students interested in attending Salt should first contact the Salt Coordinator at UNE to be sure they meet prerequisites and credentials of Salt.

Undergraduate Curriculum

Three interdisciplinary courses are taken simultaneously. All are aimed at taking students successfully through the steps of collecting field materials and shaping them as documentary work.

	Field Research - In consultation with faculty, students develop their own research topic early in the semester based upon their interests and the viability of pursuing this topic in the context of Maine social life. Students are expected to enter the field as research teams and research their topics through the methodologies of oral history, participant observation, documentary photography, and documentary radio. Students are expected to uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior with their subjects in the field and develop a solid, collaborative working relationship with their research partner throughout all phases of the project. Students present the status of their field research on a weekly basis and discuss their goals and challenges with fellow students and faculty. The Field Research course is fundamentally integrated with the Advanced Documentary Skills course which culminates with final projects that are specific to each of the three tracks of writing, photography, and radio.
	Advanced Documentary Skills - Students enroll in one of the following three tracks in Advanced Documentary Skills: i. Documentary Radi Telling Stories with Sound: Through a variety of hands on applications, students involved with the radio course at Salt learn an assortment of radio production skills: field recording, interviewing technique, writing for radio, digital audio production, and more. During the semester, students listen to many professional productions to develop critical listening skills. Students produce a vox pop (man on the street) and three features, two of which are thematically related. pop (man on the street) and two features. Graduates of the radio program leave Salt with a CD portfolio of their work and a comprehensive understanding of how to tell stories with sound. Photo used with permission by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Photo Copyright by Andrew Reilly. ii. Advanced Non-Fiction Writing and Editing: Using Maine subjects, students practice a genre called the "literature of fact" by one of its masters, John McPhee. Combining techniques of field collection and literary interpretation of real subjects, writers create stories about the everyday fabric of life and events through careful observation and listening. Structure, voice, organization, and depth of material.. redrafting and editing skills are highly emphasized. Students are expected to produce a finished article of publishable quality involving Maine people and places based on their independent field research. This article is submitted to the Salt Magazine and the Salt web site for review. A select few will be published. All students must also glean their article for an excerpt that will accompany photographs in a student exhibit in the Salt Gallery. iii. Advanced Documentary Photography: Students who have mastered basic photographic and darkroom skills are challenged to move towards meaningful, documentary, in-depth coverage of their subject matter. They work to acquire both technique and a sensibility to subjects in their environment. Each student is expected to complete two major photographic narratives. At least one of these projects is completed in partnership with a writer and/or a radio documentarian; the second narrative is either completed independently or in another partnership, depending upon the level of the photographer. These photo essays are primarily visual bodies of work with captions or other explanatory materials. Students also are expected to produce a portfolio of work completed at Salt that demonstrates significant growth over work submitted for admission.
	Approaches and Issues in Documentary Studies This course introduces students to the central techniques and issues of documentary fieldwork. Students will acquire these skills and the associated critical perspective through attending lectures, critically reading a selection of sociology articles and books, viewing films, participating in class discussions, engaging in field exercises, and writing a mid-stream paper. Students explore the intellectual and moral challenges posed by the research relationship as they learn the basic techniques of collecting and interpreting information; focused participant observation; in-depth interviewing, and assessment of the meanings of local environments (material and natural cultures). The course will also explore ways through which documentarians can strengthen their research skill conceptually; these involve developing bibliographic search and evaluation skills, and utilizing comparison as a technique for enriching the case study method. Photo used with permission by the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Photo Copyright by Holly Wilmeth.

For more information visit the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies

	Semester Abroad
	Documentary Fieldwork
	Extended Internship
	Intensive Research Project