Course Descriptions

This course provides an overview of the key principles of inclusive science communication and explore common approaches to communicate science to various audiences, with a particular focus on writing. Students will review principles of effective science communication, both through analyzing existing forms of science communication and through applying these principles in their own writing. Students will be composing several writing and communication assignments throughout the course on a topic of their choice. The goal is to practice science communication principles in their own writing, culminating in a small portfolio of their revised work produced in this class. Frequent instructor feedback will give students numerous opportunities to practice communication skills.

This course will provide students with a comprehensive overview of the process of writing for scholarly journals, focusing on the IMRD (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) format commonly used for empirical work. Students will read and analyze articles from a variety of journals, focusing on both form and content of research articles, case studies, meta-analyses, theoretical articles, and book reviews. Students will apply the course content to their own writing throughout the course, culminating in a portfolio of their revised work based on extensive instructor feedback. Students can use their existing research to produce the various writing assignments during the course and use this as an opportunity to work on submitting an article for publication. 

This introductory course is designed to help students develop basic competencies in the grant application process for a broad range of funding agencies. Students will select a project that needs funding from a pool of already prepared projects. They will then research public and private funding agencies, and evaluate the objectives of these agencies. Students will “package” the potential grantee to highlight past achievements and demonstrate expertise, as well as describe how the proposed project will be executed and the expected outcomes. Students will read and critique examples of effective and flawed grant applications and identify key characteristics of a clear and compelling proposal. Students will prepare writing products for several crucial components of a grant application. They will also be introduced to the technical aspects of grant writing, such as how to communicate through graphics and how to generate and justify a budget. Students will write a complete grant application in this course and will have the basic skills to assist in grant preparation with their peers or workplace organizations.

Building on MHS 603, this course is designed to support students in communicating with cross-disciplinary and diverse public audiences and tell compelling stories about science. Students will read and critique various styles and genres of science communication and public engagement for diverse public audiences, including plain language summaries of scientific publications, opinion editorials, magazine and newspaper articles, blog entries, excerpts from popular science books, video content, podcasts, social media posts and campaign, and other digital communication. An emphasis will be placed on learning specific strategies of science communication that leads to accessible and engaging science communication. In addition, students will learn to identify and practice effective communication strategies to engage and communicate with diverse public audiences. The course provides students ample opportunities to practice various strategies, revise their communication products and strategies based on feedback, and to provide feedback to their peers. At the end of the course, students will have created communication products for diverse public audiences that are ready to be shared across diverse platforms.