Monday and Tuesday, June 23-24:
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The Caltech Y Social Activism Speaker Series presents
SPEAKING SCIENCE 2.0: A New Paradigm in Public Engagement
CHRIS MOONEY and MATTHEW NISBET
Monday, June 23, 2008
7:30 PM
Beckman Institute Auditorium, Caltech
This event is free and open to the public;
no tickets or reservations are required.
Speaking Science Boot Camp:
Tuesday June 24, 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Caltech Y
$15 on signup includes lunch; SIGN UP starting June 16
priority for Caltech students
Boot Camp syllabus
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Over the past several years, the seemingly never-ending controversies over evolution, embryonic stem cell research, global climate change, and many other topics have led to a troubling revelation. Scientific knowledge, alone, does not always suffice when it comes to winning political arguments, changing government policies, or influencing public opinion. Put simply, many journalists, policymakers, and citizens consume and act on scientific information in a vastly different way than do the scientists who generate it. As a result, scientists and their organizations repeatedly face difficult challenges in explaining their knowledge to diverse groups of citizens.
As issues at the intersection of science and politics gain more and more attention, something beyond just scientific data--beyond "getting the facts out there"--will be necessary to break through to the public. But what are the new directions? It's time to question some central assumptions and focus on fresh ideas.
A conversation about new directions in science communication.
In this joint presentation, journalist Chris Mooney and communication professor Matthew Nisbet explain how scientists and their allies can "reframe" old debates in new ways, remaining true to the science but taking advantage of a fragmented media environment to connect with a broader American public.
This pair of events features a public lecture on Monday evening, followed by a more detailed, hands-on workshop on Tuesday.
Monday's lecture will serve as an introduction to interactions between science, the media, and the public. Growing out of the evening lecture -- but providing much more in-depth content -- the full-day workshop will provide a hands-on media primer, focusing on two critical issues: 1) how audiences find, understand, and use scientific information; 2) the knowledge and tools that scientists need to deal with the press. In other words, when journalists call you'll know what to do and what to say (and what not to say, too).
Matthew Nisbet, Ph.D., is a professor in the School of Communication at American University. His research tracks scientific and environmental controversies, examining the interactions between experts, journalists, and various segments of the public.
In addition to his research, Nisbet co-authored with Chris Mooney several much-talked-about articles regarding "framing science" in Science, the Sunday Washington Post, and the Columbia Journalism Review.
Chris Mooney is a contributing editor to Science Progress, senior correspondent for The American Prospect magazine and author of two books: the New York Times bestselling The Republican War on Science and Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming. He also writes "The Intersection" blog with Sheril Kirshenbaum.
Past Events
11/29/2007: Peter Cleary/LIFESTRAW
Every day, 6,000 people (mostly children) die from drinking dirty water. Half of the world's poor suffer from water borne diseases. The Swiss-based Vestergaard-Frandsen company has developed a revolutionary device called LifeStraw to ensure that simple access to safe drinking water becomes a basic human right. LifeStraw is a personal, mobile, water-purification tool that turns even the dirtiest water into safe drinking water.
11/14/2007: Kevin Sites
Award-winning solo journalist, Kevin Sites discussed his insightful journalistic memoir
"In the Hot Zone: One Man. One Year. Twenty Wars." and the accompanying documentary
"A World of Conflict".
Over the course of one year, Sites, a veteran combat correspondent, covered twenty
conflict zones consecutively, seeking to understand the real costs of a world
perpetually at war. What he learned was a simple, but declarative truth -- war is
not about combatants and the clashing of armies -- but about the systematic destruction
of civil life -- civilians and society.
10/18/2007: Chris Mooney
It may be the most fraught issue in meteorology today: is global warming increasing the ferocity
of hurricanes? In this talk, Mooney introduced the relatively new science of "hurricane
climatology" and surveys the political, social, and meteorological context that made it
matter so much. In the process, he explains what scientists can learn from such high-profile
conflicts, about how to communicate their knowledge to a media and public desperate for it./p>
11/15/2006: Rev. George Regas
"The IRS has gone after All Saints Church, where I served as Rector for 28 years,
for a sermon I preached before the 2004 Presidential election. They say this anti-war
sermon was political intervention in favor of Senator Kerry. Since I stated I was
not endorsing a candidate, this position of the IRS is one which implies the pulpit
is not free to speak truth to power, to be critical of positions taken by the
administration. My address attempts to address these critical issues."
-- Rev. Dr. George F. Regas
[More...]
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The Caltech Y Social Activism Speaker Series student-run organization of Caltech (California Institute of Technology, CIT). Caltech is in Pasadena, California, near Pasadena City College (PCC),
Past Speakers include: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Margaret Mead, Tim Wise, Saul Alinsky, Betty Friedan, Senator Barry Goldwater, Ted Sorensen, Dolores Huerta, Nikki Giovanni, Carl Rogers. Also Jody Williams, William F. Buckley, Jr., Huwaida Arraf & Adam Shapiro, Theodore Postol, Tahmeena Faryl, Amy Goodman. And recently: Scott Ritter, Adam Werbach, Julian Bond, D.C. James, Peter Camejo, Rahul Mahajan, Gerard Ungerman, Bernie Sanders, Mike Farrell, Peter Dreier, Chuck Collins, Ka Hsaw Wa, Kurt Gottfried, Steve Barr, Nikki Giovanni, Chris Mooney, Jack DuVall, Maquiladora workers, George Regas, Reagan Demas, Kevin Sites, Invisible Children, Life Straw.
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