Colgate has joined the audio technology revolution by launching a series of Podcasts that allow speeches by members of the campus community to reach broader audiences.

Podcasting is a new form of information technology that allows users to download and listen to new audio files without being tied down to their computers. Students simply have to subscribe to the program, titled “Colgate Conversations,” and they will automatically receive updates of new additions to the list of audio segments available to listeners.

Three Podcast episodes are currently available for members, including a talk by University President Rebecca Chopp. In her Podcast, she discusses science and technology at liberal arts colleges and addresses how Colgate’s new Ho Science Center and renovated library will improve faculty teaching methods.

Chopp begins her 30-minute speech by stating that “the 21st century is about science and technology in a global context,” using that theme as a basis for discussing the importance of schools like Colgate in preparing people for this new age in information processing.

Since Podcast lectures are available online and for downloading to portable mp3 players, Chopp sees them as broadening the technological horizons of sharing information throughout campus.

“They give us one more means of communication,” Chopp said. “They allow us to record guest lectures, which can later be accessed by students who are not able to attend them in person, as well as alumni.”

Gloria Borger ’74, a US News and World Report columnist and a political analyst for CBS News, recorded another Podcast available for members of the Colgate Conversations program.

Her segment addresses the challenges of her occupation, such as helping the general public understand what is going on inside of our country’s political walls.

“It has been a real challenge to explain this strange world of Washington and how it works,” Borger said in her Podcast. She has most recently reported on the campaign contribution scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The third Podcast episode currently available features Associate Professor of Geography Adam Burnett, who discusses his research on lake-effect snow and global warming.

Six more Podcasts have been completed and will be released over the course of the academic year.

The Podcast program was spearheaded by Rich Grant and Ray Nardelli from Colgate’s Information Technology Services department.

People may listen to the Podcasts and sign up for the Colgate Conversations program at http://www.colgate.edu/podcasts.