Coastal Environmental Communication
I co-taught this course at the Manship School of Mass Communication (MC 4971) in Fall 2014. This course was developed by myself and Zeynep Altinay, with the help of a grant from the Coastal Sustainability Studio at LSU. The purpose of this course was to introduce students to the basic skills and knowledge required of an environmental communicator, with a focus on communicating about coastal Louisiana. Students learned to think critically about the environment and its relation to social, economic, cultural, and global issues. Students engaged in the basic elements of environmental journalism including story idea creation, finding sources, interviewing scientists, communicating uncertainty and considering ethical issues. We covered the basics of science writing including translating jargon, explaining scientific concepts and research methods, and engaging readers through words and visuals.
Syllabus doc (Word .docx file).