This course is designed to enhance your ability to meet the needs of one of the most demanding audiences you will encounter as a technical/ professional writer: the public. As a writer, you will face the dilemma of having to translate specialized data for a lay audience whether in the form of a grant proposal, public policy, or general report. To meet these needs, in this class we will concentrate on such writing skills as audience analysis, rhetorical methods, and stylistic devices.
Definition
The course will focus on science writing--or popularization--which I define as the translating or reporting of scientific information, from the hard sciences to the lay public, with the purpose of educating and informing the public of science's discoveries and concerns. Examples of science popularization can be found in the science section of your local newspaper, popular magazines such as Science, or television programs such as Nova.
The course will examine science writing in the form of an article or essay format of a popular magazine like Discover, Parade, a newspaper, or in a multi-media form like an educational film or museum exhibit. As the writer your main purpose is to select the material most relevant to the public's interests and write informative pieces explaining these technical issues in laymen's terms. Some research will be necessary as it part of the actual writing process and product.
In this class we will have many reading assignments at the beginning of the course--roughly 6-7 per week--in addition to a few small writing assignments. The rest of the semester will be spent writing two essays (roughly ranging from 1,000 to 3,500 words) and working in writing workshops during the second half of the semester.
The two larger projects will require you to:
We will also have two guest speakers--one from humanities, another from the sciences--to discuss their own experiences writing popular science. Also, if all goes well, we will take a field trip to the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos to examine how a national lab uses rhetorical strategies in their exhibits for the public.
Mickey Marsee
Send comments to: mickeyl@unm.edu
URL: http://www.unm.edu/~mickeyl/scipop.html
last revised: September 30, 1995