| Bemerkung |
If a substantial fraction of citizens in a democracy cannot critically examine claims by the candidates on the ballot, that democracy will sooner or later fall prey to populists who pretend to have simple solutions to complex problems, and who, once elected by gullible voters, will destroy democracy. Thus, a stable democracy relies on the critical thinking of citizens, i.e. on the ability of citizens to evaluate information by drawing conclusions that are consistent with what is known.
Science narration plays an important role here because it presents scientific facts and their implications in an accessible but sound form to a broad audience. In the past this has helped to disseminate scientific knowledge, to spark mass movements, and to change policies. Famous examples are Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species", which has profoundly changed our view of biology; Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring", a formative book for the environmental movement; or Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" about Al Gore's campaign to raise public awareness of global warming. In these cases, effective narration was used to spread knowledge and to facilitate critical thinking about ourselves and our way of life.
These observations raise a number of questions such as:
- How is it possible that these and other works of science narration had this impact on public discourse and knowledge?
- Are there common features of good science narration?
- How can science and narration be coupled to a message that is correct, clear, and compelling?
- Are all topics equally well suited to science narration?
- Can science narration be misused?
- What is the point of learning about science narration in the age of AI?
In this course we will explore such questions based on actual science narration, and we will practice short form science narration ourselves.
- Learning objectives:
- knowledge of ...
- forms of science narration in different media
- a conceptual framework of science narration
- a conceptual framework of critical thinking
- examples of influential science narration and their respective impact
- scientific writing, science narration, and artistic narration as a spectrum
- narrative techniques
- the tension of narration and critical thinkinandaandandnd
- criteria for good science narration
- ability to ...
- distinguish science narration from pseudo-science narration
- apply critical thinking
- recognize biases and fallacies
- create short form science narration
Exam (pass or fail, no grade): in-person writing of short science narration piece in German or English. |
