Kelly from Southern Illinois - M.A. and starting Ph.D.

My name is Kelly Carringer, I'm from Southern Illinois and I'm just exiting the M.A. program and starting the Ph.D. program.

My research interest is in sound recording and reproduction methodology, especially how it relates to the human hearing mechanism, human perception.

The MCMA graduate program fosters a culture of critical thinking, and that's who I am, that's what I like.  Solving problems creatively.

I've enjoyed Historical Research Methods, Critical Research Methods, Political Economy in Media. I enjoy exploring different theories to arm myself, or prepare myself for solving problems when I encounter them in my own research.

I recently helped organize student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society (AES).  It's an international organization that encourages scholarship and excellence in the audio arts.  We've involved everyone on campus.  We put an invite out to all the different colleges and departments.  We've got a great response so far, and this fall will be our first semester as an officially recognized chapter and we've got all kinds of student involvement--with faculty and students as well. So it's pretty exciting.

I love being a teaching assistant.  I've worked in the field actually for a number of years before I returned to graduate school.  So I'm able to bring some of my industry experience and share that with students --undergrads especially-- who are about to leave and embark on their first job in the industry.  The teaching assistantship has been a great help.

As a non-traditional student it helps me focus on school and maintain my bills too.

I've just been awarded the Edison Research Fellowship at the British Library in London.  So next summer I'll be traveling to London in order to start research that will most likely become the basis for my dissertation.

I'm actually researching the work of Alan Dower Blumlein who was an audio recordist and engineer for EMI back in the 1930s.  So I'm looking at a series of test recordings from 1931-1935 that haven't been looked at since they were recorded.  I hope to introduce some new ideas in the audio recording arts to the industry that can be used.

I'm also interested in teaching. It's something that I've become passionate about as a teaching assistant here at SIUC.  Definitely, the program in the College of Mass Communications and and Media Arts at SIUC has definitely prepared me for a completely different track that what I was used to.

I had worked in the industry for almost 10 years in-between my undergrad work and my graduate work and now after having experienced the M.A. program in preparing me for the P.hD. program I have a completely different new look at the industry.

I think interested students should come check us out.  Talk to the faculty, talk to some students who have been here a while and know what the program is all about, tour the facilities.  I think whatever are that you're interested in, whatever your expertise is the MCMA graduate program has a path that's right for you.