I’ve been quiet on the blog front for the past week thanks to some cross-country traveling for work and a few deadlines I must wrap up before turning to a new kind of experience–the pedagogical sort.
Next week I’ll be teaching a science writing class at Shoals Marine Lab on the lovely Appledore Island (see here and here for my past trips to this exceptional place). I’m not sure the students realize how good they’ll have it. They’ll be learning to write about science by going on four field trips in a week–one to collect hagfish, one to the island’s intertidal pools, one to an archaeological site on a nearby island, and one to a bird banding station. Of course, if horrible weather sweeps in, as it sometimes does, we may stay inside and pore over a recent issue of Current Biology. In any case, I’ll blog some of our exploits.
After I return from the island, I’ll have a couple weeks’ respite before I turn green, explode in Hulk-like fashion, and transform into a lecturer at Yale.
I’ll be teaching a class called “Writing About Science and the Environment.” (My request for a crowd-sourced reading list arose as I was putting the class together.) The seminar is based in the Environmental Studies Department, but people outside the program (undergraduate and graduate) can apply. So if there are any Yale students getting ready to start shopping, check out EVST 215!
[Image: Painting by Laurentius de Voltolina via Wikimedia Commons]
August 6th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Congratulations!
August 6th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Congrats. You should have a lot of fun.
August 6th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Wow, if I were attending Yale, I would totally take this!
August 7th, 2009 at 12:13 am
is it possible to publish the teaching materials online? thus people not attending Yale would still benefit
August 7th, 2009 at 12:54 am
I hate to ask, Carl, but will you be writing a book someday on how to write about science?
-Rusty
August 7th, 2009 at 1:48 am
That class sounds awesome. Unfortunately I don’t think I can wake up at 9:25 am, even if it’s only once a week. (Got my blue book this week!)
August 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Carl,
Am sure the students will have lots of fun on Appledore Island (And so will you.).
As for your reading list, I am amazed that you included that essay by Neal Stephenson, who has long been one of my favorite writers. Absolutely amazing. I have to tell someone I know who knows one of Stephenson’s best friends – another science fiction writer BTW – and am sure that this will get back to him.