Notice of an open Fall-Quarter GE course in Astronomy!

Astronomy 7: Astronomy and the Media
Lecture: TuTr 11-12:15, discussions Fridays at 1 and 2
Course Listing

Students who have taken Astronomy 3 or its equivalent are encouraged to consider this course, taught jointly by UCLA astronomer Mark Morris and science writer KC Cole, who has written several popular books and who has for many years been a writer for the Los Angeles Times. This course will examine first-hand how science developments are chosen and reported to the public at large. Topical and current scientific issues will be presented and explained from the perspective of a scientist, and their coverage in various media will then be critically examined. The issues chosen will be a mix of several selected in advance, and those that arise in real time during the course of the quarter as a result of press releases. The roles of scientists' personal agendas, scientific politics (that is, funding exigencies), media priorities, editorial judgments, and the public's demand for interesting and exciting material will all be weighed when examining the coverage of each of the scientific issues. Furthermore, the effect of the public's incomplete understanding of the scientific method will be considered in examining how science is reported and how it is received. Students will be challenged to identify the elements that give value to a media presentation, and whether such elements are present or absent in the articles being considered.

The goals of the course are

1. to convey an appreciation of some of the more exciting and modern developments at the cutting edge in the accessible and visible field of astronomy
2. to instill a capacity for critical analysis of news items that will be a useful tool throughout the students' lives and applicable across all sciences and beyond
3. to offer a window into the process by which science is publicized, from the perspectives of all the players