Writing as a Public Scholar

Note: this course information is for the 2024-2025 academic year, not the current academic year (2023-2024).

Environmental scholars and practitioners increasingly recognize the need, and often have the desire, to communicate their passions and expertise to a wide, lay audience. The seminar starts from the premise that to do this effectively a mastery of written storytelling is essential, particularly in today’s saturated and fractured media landscape. Students will read popular works by classic and contemporary scholars, such as Rachel Carson and Richard Prum; practitioners in the sciences, such as Atul Gawande and Peter Wohlleben; and journalists such as Elizabeth Kolbert and John McPhee; as well as growing number of authors, such as Bill McKibben, whose work crosses these categories. Some pieces students will analyze multiple times, developing a increasingly nuanced understanding of storytelling technique