Week 1⌗

Introduction to Forensic Audio

Tuesday (1/13)⌗

• Syllabus review
• Listening Example

Thursday (1/15)⌗

• Introduction to forensic audio
• In-class activity: What Would You Analyze?

Week 2⌗

Acoustics and Signal Propagation

Tuesday (1/20)⌗

• Hear from a few of you about the news stories you found
• Historical case studies (Watergate, McKeever)

Thursday (1/22)⌗

• meet at East Hall 006 for Pinnacle Sound presentation

Week 3⌗

Tuesday (1/27)⌗

• Ethics and false convictions
• Audio Forensics in Investigative Journalism

Thursday (1/29)⌗

• Psychoacoustics and Digital Audio Fundamentals

Week 4⌗

The Forensic Workbench

Tuesday (2/3)⌗

• Handling Forensic Audio Evidence
  • Waveform and Spectral Analysis Techniques
  • Critical Listening Skills
• Lab: Handling Forensic Audio Evidence

Thursday (2/5)⌗

• Lab: Praat Introduction
  • Doing phonetics by computer

Week 5⌗

Authenticity I: Analog Methods

Tuesday (2/10)⌗

• Out of town

Thursday (2/12)⌗

• Splices and edit detection
• Lab: Identifying Edits

Week 6⌗

Authenticity II: Digital Methods

Tuesday (2/17)⌗

• ENF analysis and Metadata consistency

Thursday (2/19)⌗

• Lab: ENF and metadata

Week 7⌗

Midterm

Tuesday (2/24)⌗

• Midterm: Operation Blind Spot — Fabrication Session

Thursday (2/26)⌗

• Midterm: Operation Blind Spot — Analysis Session

Week 8⌗

Audio Enhancement I

Tuesday (3/3)⌗

• Basic Audio enhancement
• Intelligibility vs. quality
• Equalization and dynamics

Thursday (3/5)⌗

• Enhancement lab

Week 9⌗

Audio Enhancement II

Tuesday (3/10)⌗

• Other enhancement techniques
  • Spectral subtraction, click removal, dereverberation, etc.

Thursday (3/12)⌗

• Enhancement lab

Week 10⌗

• Spring break, no class

Week 11⌗

Tuesday (3/24)⌗

• Acoustic Event Analysis
  • TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival)
  • Doppler effect
  • Distance estimation
  • Likelihood ratios

Thursday (3/26)⌗

• Research Week Symposium, no class

Week 12⌗

Gunshot Acoustics I

Tuesday (3/31)⌗

• Physics of firearm sound signatures - Sections 1 - III

Thursday (4/2)⌗

• Lab: Firearm sound signature analysis

Week 13⌗

Gunshot Acoustics II

Tuesday (4/7)⌗

• Physics of firearm sound signatures, Part 2 - begin with Section IV: Other Acoustic Components
• Complex shooting incidents
• Taser analysis

Thursday (4/9)⌗

• Lab: Case Study — Trump Rally Assassination Attempt

Week 14⌗

Cockpit Voice Recorders

Tuesday (4/14)⌗

• Cockpit Voice Recorders

Thursday (4/16)⌗

• Lab: Southern Airways Flight 932 — A CVR Investigation

Week 15⌗

Final Project

Tuesday (4/21)⌗

• Final Project: Operation Deep Cut — kickoff
• Choose scenario type (shooting or CVR) — teams must pick different types
• Research real cases in your scenario type to ground your case brief and fabrication choices
• Begin scenario planning
• Check-in before leaving: one sentence on the real case(s) you found most useful and how it shaped your plan

Thursday (4/23)⌗

• Final Project: Operation Deep Cut — fabrication day 2
• Finish manipulations, complete case brief, assemble evidence package
• Submit before leaving: evidence folder + answer key to D2L (separately)

Week 16⌗

Final Project

Tuesday (4/28)⌗

• Receive opposing team’s evidence package — analysis begins
• Independent analysis only — no consulting teammates
• Check-in before leaving: each examiner states one finding (no collaboration yet)

Thursday (4/30)⌗

• Finish independent analysis
• Submit individual report to D2L before team discussion begins
• Team inter-examiner comparison meeting; write Examiner Comparison Memo
• Submit Examiner Comparison Memo before leaving
• Remaining time: presentation prep

Final Exam Day⌗

• Team presentations
• Case reveal and discussion
• Course wrap-up