Informal Science Education via Storytelling: Teaching Scientists and Philosophers How to Communicate with the Public

Scholars yearn to provide insights into some of the big questions. Yet, too often, they are limited in their abilities to communicate findings directly to a knowledge hungry public .The result is either that scholars write mainly for one another, placing important knowledge in insular academic journals that are beyond the reach and interest of the public, or rely on intermediaries to digest and transmit knowledge. If science and philosophy are to maximally enhance well-being and benefit humanity, scholars must have a way to more easily disseminate their discoveries to the public. Success in doing so requires learning not only how to tell a good story, and how to write in different styles, but also how to approach, pitch and work with editors at prominent publications. To facilitate this goal, we propose a workshop series consisting of the three multi-day sessions led by James Ryerson, a senior editor for the New York Times Opinion Pages. Within an informal context filled with real-time interaction and feedback, participants will learn how to pitch stories to editors, as well as how to write informal pieces in several different formats (e.g., Op-Ed, Long Form Feature Article). Participants will leave a workshop with improved skills for conducting a meaningful dialogue with the public.