Best of CASE District I Award
 

Institution: Brandeis University

Title of entry: The Sonic Soul of Notre Dame

About this entry: This feature article for Brandeis Magazine delivers a high-profile story with an unexpected angle: using sound to preserve cultural heritage. Thanks to a tip from our alumni office, I discovered that Brandeis alumnus Brian F.G. Katz—an acoustician at Sorbonne University—had been deeply involved in Notre-Dame cathedral's restoration after its catastrophic 2019 fire. Through multiple interviews with Katz and his French collaborators, I showed how acoustic data from his lab played a crucial role in envisioning the future of a treasured cultural and religious landmark—and, in a twist, also uncovered long-held secrets of its musical past. The feature required extensive primary source research rarely seen in alumni magazines, including medieval accounts of polyphonic music and technical acoustic modeling papers, elevating it beyond typical alumni features while maintaining accessibility. The resulting piece met a distinct need for us as a magazine: recent surveys we conducted revealed that our audience—mostly alumni and parents—overwhelmingly wanted stories about the real-world impact of the broader Brandeis community. This article delivers squarely on that request. Reader response has been exceptional, with alumni praising the piece as a model for the magazine's direction, increasing their engagement with the university, and sharing the story widely on social media.