CORE 183S - The Science Fiction Effect: Popular Science Writing and Science Fiction in Public Discourse

Combines popular science writing with works of science fiction in order to interrogate the ways in which science is presented, expressed, and translated into texts intended for lay people. Students will consider the role both kinds of work play in shaping public scientific literacy. Readings will include essays from Best American Science Writing, recently published nonfiction in the genre of popular science, assorted recent articles, as well as seminal and contemporary works of literary science fiction. Students will gain a deeper understanding of how science is practiced and written about today, as well as the ways in which fiction about scientific advances popularizes the science it addresses. Given what we learn through reading nonfiction, is fictional writing about real science a fruitful part of public scientific discourse?

Credits: 1.00
Prerequisites: None
Major/Minor Restrictions: None
Class Restriction: No Junior, Senior
Area of Inquiry: None
Liberal Arts CORE: Scientific Perspectives

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