Climate change, air and water pollution, the end of fossil fuels, population growth, and sprawling development: we hear about these environmental issues all the time, but do we understand them? Do we as citizens understand how the U.S. contributes to global problems? Do journalists explain the "bigger picture" and sharpen local policy choices?

This course relates global and national issues to environmental challenges in the Connecticut River Valley, and draws upon and strengthens a variety of reporting skills: interviewing, statistical analysis, feature writing, multimedia, and shoe-leather reporting. We start by surveying the big issues--and how they are covered in the media. Next, we interview and profile scientists at UMASS doing important research in environment-related areas. Finally, we examine specific problems in the Valley, including state parks, "smart growth," farming, historic preservation, forest management, and recycling. Along the way, we make field trips and read examples of excellent eco-journalism. Our final project will be a multimedia package of print stories, interactive graphics, and audio-slideshows. A lot of the time we will be in the field, so get your boots on!

The Advanced Science Writing Seminar is the core, the intellectual home, of the Graduate Program. During the fall semester, it is a "megaseminar" that meets six hours a week, the equivalent of two regular courses. In the spring, it turns into one regular course that meets three hours a week. Over both semesters, this seminar offers the student an array of writing experiences.

No aspect of science writing falls outside the seminar's range. Students learn to draw on all the tools of research to enrich their information-gathering skills: interviews, websites, institute archives, scientific journals, personal experience. They sample daily science journalism and the culture of the newsroom, writing on tight deadlines and learning to sniff out fresh news stories. Later, these skills are applied to longer, magazine-style feature articles.

Students explore the rich possibilities of the essay, applied to science, technology and medicine, in all its myriad forms, from formal and academic, to light and personal.

Throughout this process, workshops are conducted to critique each student's completed writing assignment, as well as analyze assigned readings from books, magazines, and newspapers. Moreover, guest speakers (either distinguished scientists or noted science writers) are invited in across the year to discuss ethical and professional issues and probe recent events in science and technology.

MIT's is a one-year master's program, designed to cover much ground in a limited time. It is conducted at a rapid pace, and requires the energy and devotion of student and faculty alike. The Advanced Science Writing Seminar is designed to maximize the educational value of that year. It lets faculty more intimately integrate instruction on journalism, the essay, long-form writing, and research methods, with workshops and critiques in those subgenres. Treating the seminar as a whole, from the very beginning, as a unified academic experience, reduces the redundancy inevitably found among distinct but potentially overlapping courses. Seminar makes sure our carefully selected students get all of what they can get out of the year, and enhances the prospects for a unique bonding experience among each year's class.

Climate change, air and water pollution, the end of fossil fuels, population growth, and sprawling development: we hear about these environmental issues all the time, but do we understand them? Do we as citizens understand how the U.S. contributes to global problems? Do journalists explain the "bigger picture" and sharpen local policy choices?

This course relates global and national issues to environmental challenges in the Connecticut River Valley, and draws upon and strengthens a variety of reporting skills: interviewing, statistical analysis, feature writing, multimedia, and shoe-leather reporting. We start by surveying the big issues--and how they are covered in the media. Next, we interview and profile scientists at UMASS doing important research in environment-related areas. Finally, we examine specific problems in the Valley, including state parks, "smart growth," farming, historic preservation, forest management, and recycling. Along the way, we make field trips and read examples of excellent eco-journalism. Our final project will be a multimedia package of print stories, interactive graphics, and audio-slideshows. A lot of the time we will be in the field, so get your boots on!