Jessica Birthisel | June 29, 2010
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| Courtesy photo |
| Zeynep Altinay, MA'10, MS'10, will teach a science writing course this fall. Associate Professor Emerita Holly Stocking's new book will help guide the course. |
To help new writers prepare, the School of Journalism will offer J460 Science Writing this fall, a course that’s been missing from curriculum since fall 2008, when associate professor Holly Stocking decided to take early retirement.
And, though she won’t be teaching the class, Stocking’s latest book, The New York Times Reader: Science & Technology, released this month, will inform the course. It will be taught by Zeynep Altinay, MA ’10 and MS ’10 (environmental science), who thought of her own experience when she proposed the course for fall.
Altinay, originally from Antalya, Turkey, worked as a reporter and researcher for a joint MSNBC/Turkish TV program covering environmental issues and she has interned for the Environmental Protection Agency and for a private environmental consulting firm. During her dual graduate programs in journalism and environmental science through IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, she also was an associate instructor for several courses.
When deciding her career path, though, she says she had a decision to make.
"I had to decide if I wanted to be a scientist with good writing skills or a writer with a strong scientific knowledge base," said Altinay. "Eventually, I decided that I wanted to be a science writer."
Altinay said she based the course on Stocking’s syllabus. She sees the class as half-discussion, half-writing, and she anticipates that students will produce both short assignments and a magazine-length science piece over the course of the semester. She plans to capitalize on the broad mix of campus researchers in chemistry and SPEA as potential guest speakers and hopes to set up a few mock press conferences during the course.
Stocking’s book, which is divided into sections on news, features and commentaries, includes stories on new discoveries and scientific meetings, interviews and profiles of scientists, explanatory features, trend and issue stories, and other kinds of pieces common to the science beat. It contains interviews with Times writers Natalie Angier, Denise Grady, Amy Harmon, Dennis Overbye and Andrew Revkin. The book includes annotated science stories, study questions and suggested readings, and the publisher provides online access to multimedia features and additional stories.
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| Photo by Carol Polsgrove |
| Stocking's new book, The New York Times Reader: Science & Technology, includes interviews with writers, sample stories and guidance for those new to science writing. |
“What was wanted and needed was a collection of the kinds of stories students can hope to write in a quarter or semester—stories about new discoveries, for example, and interviews with scientists,” Stocking explained.
Altinay, who will use the text along with Deborah Blum's Field Guide for Science Writers, says Stocking's book will be a valuable addition to the course and that it helped her complete her course syllabus.
“She lays out the material perfectly, and shares her experience and her teaching skills," said Altinay. "It’s a great book for everyone in the field."
Stocking said the book would have been very valuable during her years teaching science writing at IU, when she scrambled for appropriate real-world stories that could model ways to present science.
“It was a perennial challenge," she said, a challenge she was better able to face after she moved on from a busy faculty schedule. “I had the time in retirement to find many of the best stories, and organize and comment on them in ways that I’ve learned works for aspiring science writers.”
Still, Stocking and other reviewers foresee the book’s applicability outside of the classroom.
“Ordinary people should enjoy the collection,” said Stocking. “But scientists, too, are likely to find the book of benefit, as most want their science communicated to the public in clear and responsible ways.”
Stocking says some professional science writers have told her they’ve benefited from the book as well. If the volume does well and the publisher decides to create a new edition, Stocking says she will consider doing another volume.
“But for now, I'm just happy I was able to apply much of what I'd learned through the years as a teacher of science writing,” said Stocking. “It was terrific fun to do this project, and I am thrilled that it is garnering the positive reviews it's been getting. That will help get it into the hands of those who will benefit most, which when all is said and done, is my primary objective.”
Enrollment is open for Altinay’s J460 Science Writing Course, which is set for 4-5:15 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall. For more information, visit the course information portion of the Office of the Registrar site.
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Read a Q&A with Stocking on her book and her science writing teaching philosophy.
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