{"id":156335,"date":"2026-10-29T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=156335"},"modified":"2026-10-27T13:50:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T17:50:00","slug":"ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Students, Emmy-Winning Professors Team Up to Give a Voice to the Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr>\n<p>What happens when students from an entertainment law class and a podcasting class walk into a graveyard together? At UCF, they bring to life an Emmy-winning faculty duo\u2019s most ambitious cross-college collaboration yet.<\/p>\n<p>Legal studies senior lecturer <a href=\"https:\/\/ccie.ucf.edu\/person\/irene-pons\/\"><strong>Irene Pons<\/strong><strong> \u201900 <\/strong><\/a>was inspired one day when she came across a video of someone wandering through cemeteries, reading headstones and telling the stories of the people buried beneath them. The videos were pulling millions of views. Pons, who teaches both entertainment law and funeral law at UCF, saw a learning opportunity for her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/degree\/legal-studies-bs\/\">legal studies<\/a> students.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_156340\" style=\"max-width: 350px;\" class=\"figure float-left\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"415\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-156340 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons.jpg\" alt=\"Rick Brunson and Irene Pons\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-337x400.jpg 337w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-304x360.jpg 304w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"350\" height=\"415\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid w-100 wp-image-156340 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20350%20415%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Rick Brunson and Irene Pons\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%20350%20415%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-337x400.jpg 337w, https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons-304x360.jpg 304w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_Rick-Brunson-and-Irene-Pons.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"><strong>Rick Brunson \u201984<\/strong> and<strong> Irene Pons \u201900<\/strong> brought their two classes together for an in-person day of collaboration. (Photo courtesy of <strong>Irene Pons &#8217;00<\/strong>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She reached out to <a href=\"https:\/\/communication.ucf.edu\/person\/rick-brunson\/\"><strong>Rick Brunson \u201984<\/strong><\/a>, a senior instructor in UCF&#8217;s Nicholson School of Communication and Media (NCSM) and veteran broadcast journalist, as the first step to what would go on to become a student-produced podcast, The Dead Speak.<\/p>\n<p>Pons\u2019 entertainment law students paired with Brunson&#8217;s audio reporting and podcasting students during the Spring 2026 semester \u2014 creating a cross-disciplinary collaboration unlike anything either department had attempted before.<\/p>\n<p>The two faculty members are repeat collaborators. Their prior work legal studies-related documentaries that have earned five regional Emmy awards.<\/p>\n<p>But this project presented a whole new challenge. It required bringing together nearly 100 students of very different skill sets to deliver a finished product that would both accurately and legally \u201cbringing the dead back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Bringing the Dead to Life in Sound<\/h2>\n<p>Each class took on a distinct role in the production. Pons&#8217; legal studies students were the researchers. Using legal databases, death records, obituaries and cemetery records \u2014 while exercising the entertainment law and copyright skills they were developing in class \u2014 they identified deceased Floridians or people with strong Florida ties whose stories were compelling, historically verifiable and legally safe to tell.<\/p>\n<p>A few students even ventured into cemeteries to find their subjects, while others utilized websites for virtual tours of burial grounds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaw comes into play because a lot of research goes into databases where death records are kept,\u201d Pons says. \u201cThe entertainment law aspect comes in because we have ethical considerations, like copyright, public domain and how to verify the veracity of a record. \u2018Did that person really die in 1867?\u2019 Those are the kinds of questions that sharpened our legal research skills.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe entertainment law aspect comes in because we have ethical considerations, like copyright, public domain and how to verify the veracity of a record.\u201d \u2014 <strong> Irene Pons \u201900<\/strong>, senior lecturer<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Once initial research was completed, the classes met together in person, divided into groups, in NCSM\u2019s state-of-the-art podcasting studio. They pitched their research and determined which subjects would make the strongest episodes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy students were coming at this from what I call \u2018seeing with your ears,\u2019\u201d Brunson says. \u201cDoes this subject and the time period they\u2019re in present rich audio and sound opportunities? Does their story present rich opportunities to tell it in a sonic way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From there, Brunson\u2019s students took over, writing scripts that would be narrated in first person and finding voice actors to give an accurate voice to the deceased.<\/p>\n<p>Some students reached out to professional voice-acting collectives, and several professionals were so intrigued that they volunteered their voices. Other students recruited friends, family members or peers who matched the voice characterization they needed.<\/p>\n<p>They further enhanced the production by recording real-world ambient sounds like crickets chirping, musical instruments or an audience cheering to create the backtracks that bring each episode to life.<\/p>\n<p>In total, the collaboration produced 12 publicly accessible episodes that can be streamed on <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/rick-brunson-637011220\/sets\/the-dead-speak-podcast\">SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Everlasting Benefits<\/h2>\n<p>The response from students on both sides was immediate and enthusiastic. Pons\u2019 law students were so enamored by the experience that many asked if they could come into the studio themselves to see their research brought to life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were so invested in what they were doing,\u201d Pons says. \u201cAt the end of class, they were like, \u2018Do we have to leave?\u2019 That was their favorite part of the whole semester.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Brunson&#8217;s podcasting students, the project offered an avenue for creativity while still adhering to journalism\u2019s standards of accuracy and reporting and will ultimately serve them well on their resumes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe benefits are two-way. You get smarter by working with really smart and creative people, and you push understanding of ourselves as humans and as a community forward.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Rick Brunson \u201984<\/strong>, senior instructor<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe have dead-set rules against making things up over here,\u201d Brunson says. \u201cThey really enjoyed this opportunity to go out, get sound, create a period of time and make it immersive in a listener&#8217;s mind. It stretched their muscles as audio storytellers. Students can say, \u2018This is something I built. This is something that went out and is public-facing.\u2019 I think that is so much more valuable to students than just getting an A on a test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He adds that the experience reaffirmed what he&#8217;s always believed about project-based learning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s cross-pollination,\u201d he says. \u201cThe benefits are two-way. You get smarter by working with really smart and creative people, and you push understanding of ourselves as humans and as a community forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pons hopes to continue The Dead Speak podcast and partnership with Brunson\u2019s class with her <em>Entertainme<\/em>nt Law course in Spring 2027 and her <em>Death, Dying and the Law<\/em> course in Fall 2027.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen faculty have the opportunity, they should take advantage of collaborating like this,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was so rewarding for the students and for us as professors just to see the smiles on their faces. That says it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the graveyard to a podcasting studio, UCF legal studies and journalism students collaborated for a unique cross-disciplinary class project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":156337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,24,27],"tags":[17298,17177,982,55118,2562,2805,3393,55119,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-156335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-science-technology","category-student-life","tag-class-spotlight","tag-college-of-community-innovation-and-education","tag-college-of-sciences","tag-irene-pons","tag-journalism","tag-legal-studies","tag-nicholson-school-of-communication-and-media","tag-rick-bruson","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v28.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UCF Students, Emmy-Winning Professors Team Up to Give a Voice to the Dead | University of Central Florida News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the graveyard to a podcasting studio, UCF legal studies and journalism students collaborated for a unique cross-disciplinary class project.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Students, Emmy-Winning Professors Team Up to Give a Voice to the Dead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From the graveyard to a podcasting studio, UCF legal studies and journalism students collaborated for a unique cross-disciplinary class project.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University of Central Florida News | UCF Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UCF\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-29T13:00:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/20\/files\/2026\/10\/UCF_dead-speak-podcast.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nicole Dudenhoefer &#039;17\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@UCF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nicole Dudenhoefer &#039;17\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nicole Dudenhoefer '17\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9d80c5f96623baaf4ec084540ceb2407\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Students, Emmy-Winning Professors Team Up to Give a Voice to the Dead\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-29T13:00:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":952,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/ucf-students-emmy-winning-professors-team-up-to-give-a-voice-to-the-dead\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/20\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/UCF_dead-speak-podcast.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Class Spotlight\",\"College of Community Innovation and Education\",\"College of Sciences\",\"Irene Pons\",\"Journalism\",\"Legal Studies\",\"Nicholson School of Communication and Media\",\"Rick Bruson\",\"UCF Alumni\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Colleges &amp; 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