Scientific Opinion Writing

Catalog description

In a world where science influences policy as well as personal decision-making more than ever, what does it take to become an astute interpreter as well as writer of scientific opinion? In this project-based course, you'll start by exploring traditional science opinion writing genres--such as legacy newspaper opinion pages and JAMA Viewpoints--as well as how this writing differs from and for that matter complements "official" research. Then, you'll learn how to write and pitch a scientific op-ed on a topic of your choice to a real publication. We'll also take a close look at how emergent genres and media, such as science podcasts and TikTok videos, open up new possibilities for communicating scientific opinion. For a full course description visit: https://pwrcourses.stanford.edu/advancedpwr/PWR91KR This class does not fulfill the WR-1 or WR-2 requirement.