Course The Science of Stories: Using Narratives as a Strategy in 21st Century Science Communication

This PhD course explores the role and use that narratives and storytelling play in science communication. From public health campaigns to persuading the public on the importance on net zero carbon emission policies, storytelling and its familiar tropes of protagonists, a common enemy, and the defeat of an insurmountable foe for a happy ending can play a critical role in public and political engagement. The recognition of stories as a persuasive device has become a critical part of science skeptic discourse that thrives across multi-modal social media. And yet, despite the evidence that narratives and stories can make otherwise make complex concepts, often marred by scientific jargon, accessible to the general public, science communication has yet to truly embrace this key approach to public persuasion. 

In this PhD course open to all students across the natural sciences, humanities, and the social sciences, this course will not only give students the critical skills to identify, examine, and critique storytelling in scientific discourse, but will also critically teach students how to use narratives as a key strategy for science communication. Here, these narrative communication strategies will include thinking beyond written or spoken discourse but to also include visuals, emotions, the affordances of new media technologies, and even the body itself. Teaching students how to harness the power of story, this PhD course will introduce two new strategic concepts—narrative webs and narrative constellations—as strategies to strengthen science communication. 

Aim:

At the end of this course, students will have developed two different skill sets. Firstly, they will be able to both identify and critique the use of storytelling and/or narratives in written and oral settings within science communication. Secondly, they will also learn different communicative strategies for how to create, use, and improve narratives and storytelling for communicating about science to the public. 

Literature:

Required/recommended

Bloomfield, E. F., & Manktelow, C. (2021). Climate communication and storytelling. Climatic Change, 167(3), 1-7. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03199-6

Dahlstrom MF (2014) Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111(4):13614–13620

Fisher, W. R. (1994). Narrative rationality and the logic of scientific discourse. Argumentation, 8, 21-32.

Ryan, M. L. (2007). Toward a definition of narrative. In D. Herman (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to narrative (pp. 22-35). Cambridge University Pres.

Sangalang A, Bloomfield EF (2018) Mother goose and mother nature: designing stories to communicate information about climate change. Commun Stud 69(5):583–604

Optional/additional

Bloomfield EF (2019) Communication strategies for engaging climate skeptics: religion and the environment. Routledge

Fisher WR (1984) Narration as a human communication paradigm: the case of publRyan -- Towards a definition.pdfic moral argument. Commun Monogr 51(1):1–22 

Martinez-Conde S, Macknik SL (2017) Opinion: finding the plot in science storytelling in hopes of enhancing science communication. PNAS 114(31):8127–8129

McComas K, Shanahan J (1999) Telling stories about global climate change: measuring the impact of narratives on issue cycles. Commun Res 26(1):30–57

Morris BS, Chrysochou P, Christensen JD, Orquin JL, Barraza J, Zak PJ, Mitkidis P (2019) Stories vs. facts: triggering emotion and action-taking on climate change. Clim Chang 154(1):19–3

Target group:

Any PhD stage.

Form:

The course will use a mixture of lecture, group work, and plenary discussion. 

Lecturers:

Emma Frances Bloomfield
Marcia Clare Allison

Venue:

TBA

Course dates:

• 21 March 2023 13:00 - 17:00