Course Schedule
Week 1
Tuesday Aug 21: First Day! Getting to know you and getting in groups
- HOMEWORK: Atul Gawande’s “Letting Go” (a piece about death and dying and the role of medicine) and Ed Yong’s “Deconstructing Gawande” (a piece about Gawande’s science writing)
Thursday Aug 23: Writing and Genre. Begin Unit 1: Public Health Issues. finding a topic and using library resources
- HOMEWORK: Read The Mouse Trap.
Week 2
Tuesday Aug 28: Library Research, Evaluating Sources, and Reviewing Literature
- HOMEWORK: Draft your mini-review and intervention strategy using AT LEAST 3 RESOURCES; upload to sakai before next class.
Thursday Aug 30: mini-Literature Review drafting workshop; PSAs as a genre
- HOMEWORK: Revise your Literature review. Upload to sakai dropbox before next class.
Week 3
Tuesday Sept 4: Feeder 1 mini-review due! MRC day. Meet in the MRC! (basement of the UL)
- HOMEWORK: Think carefully about how you might sketch a storyboard for your PSA. How will you be presenting your issue? What multimedia effects will best support your claim? How will you convey the information (in a serious fashion, humorous?).
Thursday Sept 6: PSA story-board workshop day.
- HOMEWORK: Create a detailed storyboard for your PSA and begin filming your PSAs.
Week 4
Tuesday Sept 11: MRC day (conferences)
- HOMEWORK: Complete your PSA and upload to sakai before next class. If you have trouble uploading email it to me (use my gmail) and be sure to bring it to class on a flash drive!
Thursday Sept 13: PSA drafting workshop. Grant Proposals as a Genre
Week 5
Tuesday Sept 18: PSA Due! Grant Proposal narrative and budget
- HOMEWORK: mentally prepare yourself for class. Think about grant proposal. Review assignment requirements.
Thursday Sept 20: Guest Speaker, Dr. Joyce Besheer. (If time permits: Grant Proposal narrative and budget mini-drafting workshop)
- HOMEWORK: Complete Grant Proposal (draft introduction, abstract, and revise narrative and budget as necessary).
Week 6
Tuesday Sept 25: Grant Proposal Drafting Workshop
- HOMEWORK: polish those drafts and PSAs.
Thursday Sept 27: PSA/Grant Proposal Presentations
Week 7
Tuesday Oct 2: PSA/Grant Proposal Presentations
- HOMEWORK: No Homework. Congrats on finishing Unit 1
Thursday Oct 4: Begin Unit 2: Reviewing as a Genre
- HOMEWORK: Choose a topic and begin preliminary research on Google scholar through the Library’s website.
Week 8
Tuesday Oct 9: Library Research Day!
- HOMEWORK: Find three recent articles on your topic. Bring to class (electronic or paper).
Thursday Oct 11: Annotated Bibliographies: a genre; Reading Previous Research and Identifying Trends and Patterns.
- HOMEWORK: Draft your annotated bib! (have at least 4 sources for the drafting workshop)
Week 9
Tuesday Oct 16:Annotated Bibliography Rough Draft Workshop
- HOMEWORK: Polish that annotated bib!
Thursday Oct 17: Fall Break: No Class
Week 10
Tuesday Oct 23: Annotated Bibliography Due! What’s a lit review? Mapping connections! Designing a plan for lit reviews…
- HOMEWORK: Using at least four of your sources, begin to draft your literature review. Think in terms of narrative: how are these various articles in dialogue with each other? What is the best order in which to present your research on this topic? Use the “map” you created in class to begin this process. Have at least 800 words written for first drafting workshop on Thursday.
Thursday Oct 25: The Art of Introductions; U2 First Drafting Workshop
- HOMEWORK: Complete your U2 final project draft. As you complete your draft think about what goals your research supports and the different trajectories for continuing research on this topic. Remember that your literature review should not only be a summary of past research; it should also point to new directions for research. Upload your draft to sakai before next class.
Week 11
Tuesday, Oct 30: Final draft workshop
- HOMEWORK: polish that draft! Submit your final project to sakai dropbox before next class.
Thursday Nov 1: U2 Final Project Due! Begin Unit 3: Popular Science Writing!
- HOMEWORK: Read articles: “This is a news website article about a scientific paper”; and “On jargon, and why it matters in science writing”
Week 12
Tuesday Nov 6: Genre Analysis of Science Articles; see also, Derek Lowe’s piece on science writing for Michael Perfetti‘s guest talk.
- HOMEWORK: select 3 articles from Not Exactly Rocket Science or an approved science blog on Science Blogs or Discover Blogs. Read thoroughly and take notes. Pay attention to style as well as content and formal structure. Identify specific rhetorical appeals. Using these articles, draft a brief analysis of the popular science article as a genre to bring to class. How are they organized? What type of content do they typically have? What kinds of additional links/images do the usually include? How are they introduced? Concluded?
Thursday Nov 8: Genre Analysis redux and Genre Analysis Drafting Workshop
- HOMEWORK: NO HOMEWORK, except listen to a podcast of RadioLab! (You should be submitting your genre analysis final drafts at the end of class (emailed to me: sblythe@email.unc.edu)
Week 13
Tuesday, Nov 13: Feeder 1 Due! Library Research Day: finding the perfect science article to summarize
- HOMEWORK: Locate an article you will be comfortable working with for the final unit project (and feeder 2’s summary). Begin doing preliminary background research: What additional information will a broad unscientific audience need to best understand this article?
Thursday, Nov 15: Science Summary! Begin Feeder 2: Succinct Science Summary!
- HOMEWORK: Draft Feeder 2 and find one additional article that might help you better explain the concepts of your primary article. Upload your draft to sakai before next class.
Week 14
Tuesday Nov 20: Feeder 2 Drafting Workshop; Visualizing Science and Making Connections: adding images, links and additional resources to your science summary to help shape and expand your summary.
- HOMEWORK: Revise feeder 2. Upload polished feeder to sakai dropbox before next class.
Thursday Nov 22: Thanksgiving Break, No Class
Week 15
Tuesday Nov 27: Feeder 2 Due! Begin Unit 3 Final Project, Making Good on Science Blogging, Introductions: Hook, Line, and Sinker
- HOMEWORK: Write a snazzy introduction to your science summaries and begin to shape your summaries into exciting blog posts!
Thursday Nov 29: Drafting Workshop for Popular science blogging!
- HOMEWORK: POLISH THAT DRAFT and POST TO CLASS BLOG BY 2PM, TUESDAY, DEC. 4
Week 16
Tuesday, Dec 4: Last Day of Class. Unit 3 Final Project Due!