3.00 Credits
This course will teach aspiring science writers and/ or scientists to effectively write about research for audiences both inside and outside of the sciences. The course will establish the premise that science is a social enterprise that, in addition to research acumen, requires rhetorical skill. Focusing on rhetorical skill, this class will analyze the communication strategies scientists and science writers use to argue for research findings, advocate public policy positions, and communicate risk. Students will consider how scientific texts address audiences, use key terms, and argue for their validity with quantitative and visual evidence. Students will also investigate how such specialized knowledge can be effectively and ethically accommodated for non-specialist audiences. Students will be encouraged to bring their own research interests into class projects to draw from and develop their voice as an expert. Students will engage these topical interests in assigrunents in which they write for disciplinary and interdisciplinary audiences as well as for non-academic audiences. Each context will require careful analysis and shategy to effectively meet audience expectations, which this course will cultivate through readings, sample analyses, and Writing exercises. In this class, students will develop a rhetorical approach to planning and producing scientific writing. This means that students will learn to analyze an audience, the purpose of the document, and the context of the document. Students will use those insights to plan, create, and revise documents that effectively communicate yam message. This course will emphasize precision of language necessmy to effectively communicate science from the sentence-level up to the whole document. Students will develop skills in inventing ideas, drafting, revising and in peer review. Peer review will be an especially important skill in this class as it models the professional behavior of scientists.
Prerequisite:
ENGL 110 and 60 credit hours (Jr Status)