BIOL 300 Communicating Science
Sure, you know how to present your research to the experts, but can you talk about it with other audiences — without your slides? Do you really connect with an audience — any audience? The goal of this 10-week, interdisciplinary graduate course is to develop the skills in current and future scientists to present their work more spontaneously, and to connect more directly and responsively with their audiences and with each other. The course, which is eligible for credit through the Graduate Office, is based on a model developed by Alan Alda at Stony Brook University. In the first half of the course, we will use improvisation exercises to enhance presence, charisma and confidence, students will develop their observational and active listening skills. In the second half of the course, we will turn these exercises to writing. Special focus will be placed on enhancing clarity and vividness, avoiding jargon and using emotion, and developing story-telling and two-way communication. Peer feedback is an essential component of this course. The class will meet one day per week in the late afternoon/early evening in the fall term (exact time and place to be determined). Enrollment in this course represents the diversity of Dartmouth’s graduate programs. When you register for the course, please send your name, your graduate program, year in program, and the reason you want to take this course to Mark McPeek (mark.mcpeek@dartmouth.edu).
Instructor
Kohn, McPeek