LLSJ
3014

Food, Health, & Nature Writing for Journalists

Eugene Lang College Lib Arts: Journalism + Design

Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students (with Restrictions)
Food/Health/Nature Writing
Spring 2025
Taught By: Philip Dray
Section: A

CRN: 14746

Credits: 4

The emergence of plant-based meat, a medicine that can overcome resistance to antibiotics, the shrinking of the Great Salt Lake…many people learn about phenomena like these from popular media. Food, health, and nature are topics ripe for journalism that informs and entertains, yet these stories must compete with a flood of appealing, unreliable tales from corporate campaigns, self-styled experts, and vaccine deniers. How can journalists break down the complexities of science and capture its implications for the curious, anxious lay reader who wants to make better choices for themselves and their communities? Because science and those who write about it must always reckon with “that which remains to be understood,” reporters must be especially attentive to provable facts, transparency, and editorial balance. Students read journalism by Margaret Renkl, Zeynep Tufecki, Ed Yong, Michael Pollan, Timothy Ferris, Dorceta Taylor, Rebecca Skloot, and others. In addition to group discussion, students will regularly submit their own written articles and meet 1:1 with the instructor. This course satisfies the Reporting + Craft elective for the Journalism + Design major.

College: Eugene Lang College Lib Arts (LC)

Department: Journalism + Design (JND)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Seminar (R)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 18

Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: February 3, 2025 (Monday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: April 15, 2025 (Tuesday)

Seats Available: Yes

* Seats available but reserved for a specific population.

Status: Open*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 4:36pm EST 11/5/2024

Meeting Info:
Days: Tuesday, Thursday
Times: 10:00am - 11:40am
Building: Eugene Lang 65 W11th
Room: 258
Date Range: 1/20/2025 - 5/8/2025