Summer is right around the corner and the Department of Life Sciences Communication is offering a variety of classes for undergraduate, graduate, and professionals to learn about, both, the theoretical and practical aspects of science communication.
LSC will host a total of five online classes this summer term. Whether you’re headed back home, a professional working, traveling across the US or abroad, or are remaining in Madison for the summer, by enrolling in a summer course you’ll get an outstanding UW–Madison experience and skills and learn from a top-notch LSC instructor.
Information on how to enroll in a summer course at UW-Madison can be found through the Summer Term’s webpage.
Summer Term enrollment begins on March 30th, 2020. Mark your calendars and check out our course options below.
LSC’s 2020 Summer Courses Include:
LSC 100 Science and Storytelling: Fundamentals of effective written and spoken communication
Students in LSC 100 Science and Storytelling explore the power of storytelling and its impact on science, empathy, and communication skills. Students learn how to think critically about quality evidence, distinguish opinions from facts, and develop humility in advancing one’s point of view in a multicultural society. The course is designed to hone your skills in public speaking and crafting a college-level research paper using the UW library. Students will also practice grammar and style outside of class by using interactive, self-paced software.
LSC 100 is an eight-week online course that will run from June 17 to August 11, 2020, and is taught LSC Graduate Student Becca Beets. This course fulfills UW–Madison’s Communication-A requirement.
LSC 251 Science, Media and Society: Explore the intersections of science and society
How do we form opinions about emerging technologies we know little about? Why are we as a society sometimes so divided in our interpretations of scientific facts and phenomena? How can we better communicate and debate science in society? And what role does media, especially in online environments, play in this process?
LSC 251 Science, Media and Society, takes a closer look at the social and cultural factors shaping the science-public interface, the communication processes among different stakeholders (players in the policy arena, industry, scientists, journalists, and lay publics), and the impacts that these dynamics have on societal debates surrounding science and technology. The course is especially relevant for those within the biological sciences, physical sciences, or engineering industries, as it brings helpful perspective to the relevance of their field in societal conversations.
LSC 251 is an eight-week online course that runs from May 26 to July 19, 2020, and will be taught by LSC Graduate Student Nicole Krause. This course can be used to fulfill UW–Madison’s Humanities or Social Science requirement as well as the CALS International Studies requirement.
LSC 350 Visualizing Science and Technology: An introduction to the visual communication of science
This course allows students to explore the emerging field of neuro-aesthetics and its implications for understanding the media, science communication, and the visual arts.
Students will learn about visual communication through illustrated lectures and analyzing tantalizing images, in both written assignments and team presentations. LSC 350 offers the opportunity to expand students’ visual critical thinking skills by analyzing media images and neuro-charms, investigating how the media and visual arts reflect the brain’s visual system and attracts audiences, creating effective visual messages, and applying visual cognition analysis to specific images that articulate visual theory.
LSC 350 is a five-week online course that runs from May 26 to June 28, 2020, and will be taught by LSC Graduate Student Richard Heinrich. This course can be used to fulfill UW–Madison’s Humanities or Social Science requirement.
LSC 432 Social Media in the Life Sciences: Strengthen your foundation of social media content marketing
How can we leverage social media and other online platforms to create meaningful connections about science, and measure the impact of their practice?
In LSC 432 students will explore a variety of social media and digital marketing technologies while learning the principles of strategic communication. Discussions will detail the foundation of and how to build a social media and digital marketing strategy in the field of science communication. This includes creating meaningful connections with audiences, executing a social media and digital marketing strategy, amplifying your message, and measuring your message’s impact. Students will create their own social media account and content marketing to promote a personal brand and add value to other businesses and organizations in the field of science communication.
LSC 432 is a five-week online course that runs from June 1 to July 5, 2020, and will be taught by LSC Faculty Associate Don Stanley.
Students interested in this course who do not meet the course pre-requisite should contact tholtz@wisc.edu for permission to enroll.
LSC 560 Scientific Writing: Improve your writing and communication skills for scientific and lay audiences
LSC 560 is designed for upperclassmen and graduate students in the sciences, as well as professionals in life science industries, who wish to strengthen their science writing skills. Students will do so by exploring traditional journal articles and popular science writing formats.
LSC 560 allows students to learn the purpose and structure of the “story” genre, and employ story in their writing for both scientists and the public. Students will recognize and use more concise, powerful, and clear language for conveying complex science, whether for scientific or lay audiences. Identify the purpose and structure of various genres of writing for scientists and the public, and what readers expect from each type of text. They will also be able to distinguish between “global” and “local” concerns when critiquing others’ writing, and between the processes of revising and editing.
LSC 560 is a five-week online course that runs from June 15 to July 19, 2020, and will be taught by LSC Lecturer Emeritus Ron Seely. This course also fulfills UW–Madison’s Communication-B requirement.
Why should you take a summer course? Find out more about how UW–Madison Summer Term can help you advance your degree and future career.