Science Writing: Calendar
Spring 2009
January
T 1/20 Science Writing and the History of Science
Preparation
• Please examine the course web site concentrating on the syllabus
and the course calendar;
• Please sign up for the class wiki (refer to the top right-hand corner) as soon as possible;
• If curiosity or time permit, consult
"Seeing and Believing: The Experimental Production of Scientific Facts" (from Shapin and Schaffer, Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle
and the Experimental Life, 1985, Chapter 2, pgs. 22-79).
In-Class Activities
• Introductions;
• We will examine course requirements and mechanics with an emphasis on course goals;
• We will review the historical origins of
early modern science and trace their affect on contemporary communications practices.
H 1/22 Communicating Science
Preparation
• Please read Chapter 1 (pgs. 1-9) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
• Please look at "The Future for Science Writing" (time, 13:56) from bloggingheads.tv;
• Please read "The Scientist in 2008" by Steven Shapin (Seed);
• If curiosity or time permit, consult "The End Of Science
Writing" (by Jon Franklin).
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss ideas regarding the purposes of communicating and understanding science.
T 1/27 Studying Science Scientifically
Preparation
• Please read the Ethnography Assignment;
• Please read Chapter 2 (pgs. 10-25) in Montgomery's Communicating Science.
• Please review the entry on "Ethnography" from Wikipedia;
• Please review "Ethnography" (from Cardiff University);
• Please consult "A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research" (by Michael Genzuk).
In-Class Activities
• We will review the Ethnography Assignment;
• We will examine the challenges of social science writing, and studying science scientifically, through the ethnographic process.
H 1/29 Reading Science Writing
Preparation
• Please read the Revision Exercises Assignment;
• Please read Chapter 3 (pgs. 26-35) in Montgomery's Communicating Science.
• Please review Chapter 2 "Reading Scientific and Technical Texts"
in the E-Text.
In-Class Activities
• We will review the Revision Exercises Assignment;
• We will examine the relationship between reading well and writing well.
February
T 2/3 Science Writing, Bad Writing and the "Official Style"
Preparation
• Revision Exercise 1 due no later than noon;
• Please read "A Very Short History of Bad Writing;"
• Please read What's wrong with the "Official Style?" (please follow the links and read the associated pages) and consult "Making an Essay More "Academic;"
• If curiosity or time permit, consult "An interview with Richard A. Lanham."
In-Class Activities
• We will define writing "style", examine the elements of the "official style," and address approaches to revising scientific writing. Your revision exercises will be the basis for class discussion.
H 2/5 Science and Uncertainty
Preparation
• Please read "Scientists' Representations of Uncertainty" (Zehr) and "Interpreting Uncertainty" (Boffey, Rodgers and Schneider) in Communicating Uncertainty;
In-Class Activities
• We will examine how scientists and members of the public understand uncertainty.
T 2/10 The Elements of Proposals
Preparation
• Ethnography Assignment due;
• Please read the Proposal Assignment;
• Please read the Chapter 11 (pgs. 146-160) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
• Please consult Chapter 11, Part 1 and Part 2 in the E-Text;
• Please consult the first three sections (Introduction, Proposals in the Workplace, Components) of the
Proposals Module on the
Instructional Site.
In-Class Activities
• We will review the proposal assignment and discuss the elements that comprise a proposal.
H 2/12 Science's Social Contract
Preparation
• Please read the Summary, Chapter 1, Chapter 3 and review the entirety of "Science - The Endless Frontier" (by Vannevar Bush).
• Please read "An Uncertain Social Contract" (Chubin) in Communicating Uncertainty.
In-Class Activities
• We will look at strategies to make actions and characters more visible in your prose. Your revision exercises will be the basis for class discussion.
T 2/17 Funding Science
Preparation
• Revision Exercise 2 due no later than noon;
• Please read "Science's Worst Enemy: Corporate Funding" (Jennifer Washburn) in DISCOVER;
• Please read "End Government Science Funding" (Terence Kealey, 1997), Cato;
• Please refer to "The decline of unfettered research" (Andrew Odlyzko, 1995), AT&T Bell Laboratories.
In-Class Activities
In the first half of class we will take up concision in writing; We will discuss the funding of, and society's contract with, science.
H 2/19 Science and Politics
Preparation
• Please refer to the Question Formation Assignment. Please bring your questions to class and please post the to the designated forum on the wiki by the end of the day (1);
• Please read and develop questions on "Mission Accomplished: The 'war on science' is over. Now what?" (Chris Mooney) in Slate;
• Please read and develop questions on "Issue 1. Does Politics Come Before Science in Current Government Decision Making ?" (pgs. 2-27) in Easton's Taking Sides.
In-Class Activities
• Based on your questions on the reading, we will discuss the extent to which science should or should not be controlled by politics.
T/24 Defining Scientific Controversies
Preparation
• Proposal Assignment due;
• Please read all of the elements of the Scientific Controversies Project concentrating on the Annotated Bibliography Assignment:
Background, Annotated Bibliography,
Debates, and Wiki and Articles;
• Please read "Public Responses to Uncertainty" (Einsiedel and Thorne) in Communicating Uncertainty;
• Please consult "The Dynamics of Scientific Controversies";
• If curiosity or time permit, consult
Brian Martin on scientific controversies and "Science and
Nonscience Concerning Human-Caused Climate Warming?".
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss the scientific controversies project, determine a working definition of a scientific and technological controversy and
take up how controversial science is debated in public forums.
H 2/26 Internet Neutrality?
Preparation
• Please refer to the Question Formation Assignment. Please bring your questions to class and please post the to the designated forum on the wiki by the end of the day (2);
• Please read and develop questions on "Issue 3. Should the Internet Be Neutral" (pgs. 48-68) in Easton's Taking Sides.
In-Class Activities
• Based on your questions on the reading, we will discuss the the concept and possibilities of net neutrality.
March
T 3/3 Meetings With Teams
Preparation
• Annotated Bibliography due at the time of the meeting;
• I will meet with teams in my office (433 Shanks) for 20 minutes to discuss the Scientific Controversies Project.
• Class will not formally meet on either 3/3 or 3/5.
H 3/5 Meetings With Teams
Preparation
• Annotated Bibliography due at the time of the meeting;
• I will meet with teams in my office (433 Shanks) for 20 minutes to discuss the Scientific Controversies Project.
• Class will not formally meet on either 3/3 or 3/5.
T 3/17 The Scientific Journal Article
Preparation
• Please read the Scientific Article Assignment;
• Please read Chapter 7 (pgs. 78-98) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
• Please review "Open Access: Should scientific articles be available online and free to the public?" (Amanda Schaffer, 2004) in Slate;
• Please consult "Academic publishing" and "The Scholarly Communication Crisis" (The Berkeley Electronic Press.)
In-Class Activities
• We examine the structure of scientific research articles.
H 3/19 "The Science of Scientific Writing"
Preparation
• Please read "The Infectiousness of Pompous Prose;" (M. W. Gregory);
• Please review "The Science of Scientific Writing." (Gopen and Swan).
In-Class Activities
• We will analyze how style affects the readability of scientific research articles.
T 3/24 Reviewing Peer Review
• Revision Exercise 3 due no later than noon;
• Please read Chapter 6 (pgs. 69-77) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
• Please refer to "Quality Control: The case against peer review" (Daniel Engber, 2005) in Slate;
• Please refer to the Wikipedia entry on Peer Review.
In-Class Activities
• Based on your revision exercises, we will analyze strategies for making your writing more concise. We will also look at place of peer review in publishing research articles.
H 3/26 Science and Ideology
• Please refer to the Question Formation Assignment. Please bring your questions to class and please post the to the designated forum on the wiki by the end of the day (3);
• Please read and develop questions on "Issue 4. Should Society Act Now to Halt Global Warming?" (pgs. 70-94) in Easton's Taking Sides;
In-Class Activities
• Based on your questions on the reading, we will discuss whether scientific expression and policy making has been suppressed by government ideology.
T 3/31 The Role of Popular Science
• Scientific Article Assignment due;
• Please read the Popular Science Assignment;
• Please read "Facing Life with a Lethal Gene" (by Amy Harmon) in Nasar's The Best American Science Writing 2008;
• Please review Chapter 6 in Friedman's Communicating Uncertainty.
In-Class Activities
• We will review the Popular Science Assignment and begin to analyze science writing for the lay public.
April
H 4/2 Science Reporting at Length
• Please refer to the Question Formation Assignment. Please bring your questions to class and please post the to the designated forum on the wiki by the end of the day (4);
• Please read and develop questions on "The Older-and-Wiser Hypothesis" (by Stephen S. Hall) in Nasar's The Best American Science Writing 2008;
• Please consult Chapter 15 (pgs. 199-211) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
In-Class Activities
• Based on your questions on the reading, we will discuss the features of a more developed piece of popular science writing.
T 4/7 Good Prose, Good Debate
• Revision Exercise 4 due no than later noon.
• Please read the Debate Assignment;
• Please read Chapter 13 (pgs. 169-182) in Montgomery's Communicating Science;
• Please read "How NIH Misread Hormone Study in 2002" (by Tara Parker-Pope) in Nasar's The Best American Science Writing 2008;
• Please consult "Science in the Public Arena" (Dumanoski, Farland and Krimsky) in Communicating Uncertainty;
• Please consult "PowerPoint Is Evil" (by Edward Tufte)
In-Class Activities
• Based on your revision exercises, and using Parker-Pope's article as a touch stone, we will take up strategies for "shaping" good prose. Also, we will review the Debate Assignment and oral presentation strategies.
H 4/9 Big Pharma
Preparation
• Please refer to the Question Formation Assignment. Please bring your questions to class and please post the to the designated forum on the wiki by the end of the day (5);
• Please read and develop questions on "Psychiatrists, Children and Drug Industry's Role" (by Harris, Carey and Roberts) and "After Sanctions, Doctors Get Drug Industry Pay" (by Harris and Roberts)
in Nasar's The Best American Science Writing 2008;
In-Class Activities
• We will take up the public perception of the pharmaceutical industry.
T 4/14 Game On!: Debates
Preparation
• Popular Science Assignment due;
• Please be prepared to present your debate or to ask questions of the presenters.
• Please fill out this evaluation form no more than 24 hours
after the debate.
In-Class Activities
• Team 1 will present their Debate.
H 4/16 Day of Remembrance: Classes Canceled
T 4/21 Game On!: Debates
Preparation
• Please be prepared to present your debate or to ask questions of the presenters.
• Please fill out this evaluation form no more than 24 hours after
the debate.
In-Class Activities
• Team 2 will present their Debate.
H 4/23 Game On!: Debates
Preparation
• Please be prepared to present your debate or to ask questions of the presenters.
• Please fill out this evaluation form no more than 24 hours after
the debate.
In-Class Activities
• Team 3 will present their Debate.
T 4/28 Game On!: Debates
Preparation
• Please be prepared to present your debate or to ask questions of the presenters.
• Please fill out this evaluation form no more than 24 hours after the
debate.
In-Class Activities
• Team 4 will present their Debate.
H 4/30 Game On!: Debates
Preparation
• Please be prepared to present your debate or to ask questions of the presenters.
• Please fill out this evaluation form no more than 24 hours after the
debate.
In-Class Activities
• Team 5 will present their Debate.
May
T 5/5 At the End of the Day
Preparation
• Please bring any questions you might have regarding the Scientific Controversies Assignment to class.
In-Class Activities
• We will review the class with a eye toward the course goals and toward providing a coherent course narrative.
W 5/13 Final Projects
Preparation
• The Scientific Controversies project is due no later than 3:05.
Well Done!
