Writing Across The Disciplines

This course has two aims.

The first supports you in thinking, reading and writing critically about concepts found in the various disciplines of the humanities. Writings in the humanities contain abstract concepts that often turn into scientific and technological reality. It is important for you as a scholar to learn how concepts in STEM disciplines have roots that go back to the humanities. It is also relevant for you to understand how scientific and engineering innovations have objectives that promote the quality of life for all members of our human race. You will learn to identify different methodologies and approaches to texts and discuss the rhetoric and reasoning employed in these texts. You will then apply these approaches to the real world of scientific and engineering technologies and events.

The second aim is to support your communication and presentation of scientific and technical concepts to the lay public. You will learn to explain technical terms in STEM fields in language that the non-scientific public can understand. You will learn to write and present persuasively, so that the lay public will be convinced of the scientific findings and results. This is important for you as a STEM scholar, as you will be facing policy makers and politicians in your career, and you should acquire the skills and techniques of persuasion and rhetoric.