SciComm Appendix IV

Appendix IV

Science Writing Courses Taught in NCA Departments Offering a PhD

Column heads:

Audience:

Public: Public (e.g., popular press)

Scientist: Science discourse communities

Both: Both scientists and public

Subject Focus

ENV Environmental

POL Policy

RISK Risk

SOC Sociology / Social Movements

SUS Sustainability

SciEth Science Ethics

SciTech Science, Technology, & Culture

Number of courses encountered: 31 (18 departments)

	Audience			Subject Focus
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Column Totals:	28	1	0	18	5	1	2	2	1	7
Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 1) Department of Communication
1) COMM3020 Science Writing for the Media (id=138)	✓									✓
How to write about science, technology, and medicine for the media. Writing assignments focus on writing news for web sites, blogs, magazines, and other media.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Michigan State University, Communication Arts and Sciences 2) School of Journalism (PhD in Media and Information Studies)
2) JRN472 Special Topics Laboratory in Environmental Reporting (id=999)	✓			✓
Topics may include investigative environmental reporting, environmental video storytelling, wilderness experience and environmental writing.
3) JRN473 Special Topics Seminar in Environmental, Health and Science Journalism (id=1000)	✓			✓
Topics may include news coverage of health, science and environmental events and issues.
4) JRN872 Environment, Science and Health Reporting Topics (id=1001)	✓			✓
Resources and practical experience in reporting and writing about environment, science and health topics.
5) JRN873 Environment, Science and Health Journalism Seminars (id=1002)	✓			✓
Issues in environment, science and health journalism.
(# courses=4)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Michigan Technological University, College of Sciences and Arts 3) Department of Humanities
6) HU 4693 Science Writing (id=946)	✓			✓	✓
Introduces writing, research, and editing that contribute to a public understanding of science. Possible topics: health, environment, medicine, public policy. All majors welcome.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
North Carolina State University at Raleigh, College of Humanities and Social Sciences 4) Department of English
7) ENG 333 Communication for Science and Research (id=509)		✓
This course is aimed primarily at students who plan careers in scientific research. This course introduces students to the more important forms of writing used in scientific and research environments. The course explores the relationship between research and writing in problem formulation, interpretation of results, and support and acceptance of research. Students are encouraged to adapt writing assignments to their own work experience, professional goals, and major fields of study. Instruction covers all phases of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, and critiquing other people's work). Emphasis is placed on organizing for the needs of a variety of readers; concise, clear expression; and the use of visual aids. Typical assignments include proposals, journal articles, and at least one oral presentation.
8) ENG 425 Analysis of Scientific and Technical Writing (id=1006)
This course examines the role of communication in the development and exchange of scientific and technical knowledge. We will first investigate how scientific writing developed as a genre from the seventeenth century to the early twentieth century. Then we will read introductory works on rhetorical theory and examine the purposes, issues, audiences, and conventions of written communication in a variety of scientific and engineering contexts. After exploring the values and purposes that shape scientific arguments, we will use these rhetorical principles and scientific values as critical frameworks for analyzing the role of communication in science and technology. Students will work on individual and team projects that involve analysis and production of scientific and technical writing.
9) ENG 507 Writing for Health and Environmental Sciences (id=1007)				✓
(no description given)
(# courses=3)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Purdue University, College of Liberal Arts 5) Brian Lamb School of Communication
10) COM 21700 Science Writing And Presentation (id=539)	✓
Students learn to effectively communicate scientific and technical information both verbally and in writing to a variety of audiences.
11) COM 45300 Reporting Of Science News (id=543)	✓
Study of, and practice in, the techniques of gathering and reporting news of scientific developments to the general public through the examination of samples of science news and regular reporting exercises. Attention given to professional demands made of science reporters.
(# courses=2)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Rutgers the State University of NJ, School of Communication 6) Communication Department
12) 04:567:340 Science and Health Journalism (id=202)	✓									✓
To introduce students to the specialized fields of science, health and technology writing.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
Stanford University, School of Humanities and Sciences 7) Department of Communication
13) COMM 177C Specialized Writing and Reporting: Environmental Journalism (id=576)	✓			✓
Practical, collaborative, writing-intensive course in science-based environmental journalism. Science and journalism students learn how to identify and write engaging stories about environmental issues and science, how to assess the quality and relevance of environmental news, how to cover the environment and science beats effectively, and how to build bridges between the worlds of journalism and science.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Iowa, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 8) School of Journalism and Mass Communication
14) JMC 3400 Specialized Reporting and Writing: (id=893)	✓									✓
This course is designed to facilitate writing and researching skills required to report on science, technology and medicine. We will learn to write about science, technology and medicine in style, form and content that makes reporting interesting and comprehensible to both the public and the specialist. The overall objective is that we learn to communicate effectively and with clarity while reporting on the cutting edge of scientific research and explaining highly complex ideas.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Maryland at College Park, College of Arts and Humanities 9) Department of Communication
15) COMM 352 Specialized Writing in Public Relations (id=391)	✓									✓
Public Relations writing for science, technology, health, medicine, corporate finance, educational policy, law and government in broadcast and technical media, as well as newspapers and magazines and also including proposals, speeches and correspondence.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Minnesota, College of Liberal Arts 10) Department of Writing Studies
16) WRIT 3152W Writing on Issues of Science and Technology (id=2)	✓			✓		✓				✓
Read books/articles, discuss, and write about major issues in science/technology. Possible topics: DNA and human genome. Animal/human interaction. Global warming; Alternative energies; Animal/human cloning and stem-cell research. Vaccines from Smallpox to AIDS. Why civilizations collapse.
17) WRIT 3315 Writing on Issues of Land and the Environment (id=4)	✓			✓			✓
Land in America as idea and as actual space. History of cultural values and the meanings land holds for us. Contrasting views of land, especially those of certain Native American peoples. Rise of the conservation movement and the urbanization of U.S. space.
18) WRIT 3371W Technology, Self, and Society (id=6)	✓			✓			✓			✓
Cultural history of American technology. Social values that technology represents in shifts from handicraft to mass production/consumption and in modern transportation, communication, and bioengineering. Ethical issues in power, work, identity, and our relation to nature.
19) WRIT 4664W Science Writing for Popular Audiences (id=10)	✓
How science is translated for popular audiences. Rhetorical theory to critique popularized articles. Developing heuristic for writing articles. Controversial issues in moving from science as science to science as popular.
(# courses=4)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Missouri, School of Journalism 11) All Programs
20) JOURN 441 Science, Health and Environmental Writing (id=1074)	✓			✓
Advanced course in the reporting of science, health and environment. Write for publication.
21) JOURN 4414 Field Reporting on the Food System and Environment (id=1072)	✓			✓	✓				✓
Field reporting on the social, political, scientific, economic and ethical dimensions of the food system and environment, with emphasis on explanatory story-telling.
22) JOURN 4415 Current Issues in Science Journalism (id=1073)	✓			✓				✓
Focuses on covering the interplay of one or more current issues of concern to journalists, scientists and society. The focus for any given semester may be biotechnology, climate change, energy, food safety, global population growth, wildlife or another issue.
(# courses=3)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of New Mexico, College of Arts and Sciences 12) Department of Communication and Journalism
23) CJ 339 Rhetoric and the Environment (id=789)	✓			✓
The course examines the ways we communicate about the environment and how this, in turn, impacts the way we view and treat the natural world.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, School of Journalism and Mass Communication 13) Ph.D. in Mass Communication
24) JOMC 564 Science and Medical Reporting (id=1094)	✓
Focuses on developing strategies to research and write about medical issues, specifically selecting topics, finding and evaluating sources, and information gathering. Students produce a range of stories, from short consumer pieces to in-depth articles.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Oregon, School of Journalism and Communication 14) Ph.D. Program in Media Studies
25) 463/563 Specialized Reporting (id=979)	✓			✓	✓
Reporting special topics, including the environment, business and economics, politics, health and medicine, science, and the arts; and digital and multiplatform journalism.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of South Carolina, College of Mass Communications and Information Studies 15) School of Journalism and Mass Communications
26) JOUR 562 The Journalism of Science and Technology (id=808)	✓				✓					✓
Explores the role of the media in shaping perceptions of scientific issues and public policy. Emphasis on methods of communicating technical information to various publics.
(# courses=1)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Tennessee at Knoxville, College of Communication and Information 16) School of Journalism and Electronic Media
27) JREM 451 Environmental Writing (id=836)	✓			✓
Writing for the news media on environmental issues such as urban sprawl, air pollution, fossil fuels and nuclear power, and alien and endangered species. Students hear presentations from and interview experts in environmental science and reporting. Exemplary environmental writing is reviewed.
28) JREM 456 Science Writing as Literature (id=837)	✓
A survey of important science writing for the general public across the spectrum of science, engineering, and medicine. Works by authors such as Arthur C. Clarke, David Quammen, and Richard Selzer are analyzed for literary qualities in a quest to understand why some science writing succeeds.
(# courses=2)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Texas at Austin, College of Communication 17) School of Journalism
29) J 346F Reporting on the Environment (id=960)	✓			✓				✓
Instruction in and supervised fieldwork in environmental coverage. Topics include interviewing, understanding elements and structures of good environment writing, understanding the concepts of scientific certainty and uncertainty, and communicating complex science to lay audiences. Issues to be covered include climate change, energy, air and water quality, and sustainability.
30) J 349F Reporting Public Health and Science (id=961)	✓				✓
Specialty reporting to help news consumers understand complex health and medicine issues. Considers the lack of critical perspective, balanced reporting, and grasp of fundamental issues that afflict much health reporting. Focuses on the latest reporting techniques and narrative skills to illuminate an intellectually demanding field that also includes public health policy.
(# courses=2)
	Public	Scientist	Both	ENV	POL	RISK	SOC	SUS	SciEth	SciTech
University of Wisconsin Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication 18) Journalism / Reporting Concentration (Ph.D in Journalism and Mass Communication)
31) J415 Science and Environmental Journalism (id=860)	✓			✓
Instruction and practice in strategies for communicating science to the public. Emphases include: 1) how to explain difficult concepts and processes; 2) skills for telling interesting and artful stories, and 3) strategies for making reasonable judgments about scientific evidence. Students will focus on producing products useful for mass media channels, from newspapers to the web. The skills acquired in this course are relevant to practitioners in journalism, public relations and informal education settings such as science museums.