Program Description
Sharing scientific discoveries with the public is no longer solely the job of professional communicators; rather, it is a skill that all scholars should have. This minor offers an opportunity to apply communication theories, goals and processes to scientific phenomena. Students in the minor will have the flexibility to build their curricula with a combination of courses in communications, public engagement and scientific research, ethics, and literacy.
This minor is designed for undergraduates who are interested in the sciences and/or engineering and would like to learn how to use a wide variety of communication tools for engaging publics, including non-technical audiences and policymakers.
Students completing the minor will develop an identity as someone who can contribute to the public understanding of science.
Minor Requirements
Students who declare this minor will have to take at least 8 science and/or engineering credits as their major or second minor. These courses can be taken prior to, or simultaneously with the science communication minor courses, and need to be different courses than the ones appear on the core and electives list below.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| COMM 2850 | Communication, Environment, Science, and Health | 3 |
| |
| ALS 2000 | | |
| ALS 4960 | Internship in Agriculture and Life Sciences | 1-3 |
| ALS 4990 | Undergraduate Research in Agriculture and Life Sciences | 1-6 |
| BME 4440 | Science Policy Bootcamp: Concept to Conclusion | 3 |
| COMM 3080 | | 2 |
| COMM 3081 | | 1 |
| COMM 3760 | Planning Communication Campaigns | 3 |
| EDUC 3510 | Engaged Learning through Extension, Outreach, and Instruction | 3 |
| ENTOM 3350 | Naturalist Outreach Practicum | 4 |
| PHYS 4500 | Cultivating Public Engagement in Physics | 2 |
| PLSCI 3940 | | 3 |
| PSYCH 2820 | Community Outreach | 2 |
| PSYCH 4500 | Psychology at the Sciencenter! | 4 |
| STS 4451 | Making Science Policy: The Real World | 4 |
| |
| AEM 2700 | Management Communication | 3 |
| ASTRO 2202 | A Spacecraft Tour of the Solar System: Science, Policy and Exploration | 3 |
| BIOG 3500 | Introduction to Applied Science Communication: Digital Platforms and Public Engagement | 3 |
| BIOSM 3500 | Applied Science Communication | 3 |
| COMM 2450 | Communication and Technology | 3 |
| COMM 2760 | Persuasion and Social Influence | 3 |
| COMM 3010 | Writing and Producing the Narrative for Digital Media | 3 |
| COMM 3020 | Science Writing for the Media | 3 |
| COMM 3060 | Connecting Experience: Creating a Personal Brand and Implementing an ePortfolio | 3 |
| COMM 3070 | Communicating Today: Creating Strategic Visual Messages Across Media | 3 |
| COMM 3200 | Technology, Behavior and Society | 3 |
| COMM 4660 | Public Communication of Science and Technology | 3 |
| COMM 5660 | | 1 |
| ILRLR 3300 | | |
| PLSCI 4100 | Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses and Global Climate Change | 3 |
| |
| ALS 1200 | Information Chaos: Navigating Today's Information Landscape | 1 |
| BSOC 2061 | Ethics and the Environment | 4 |
| COMM 2820 | Research Methods in Communication Studies | 4 |
| COMM 3210 | Communication and the Environment | 3 |
| COMM 4300 | Ethics in New Media, Technology, and Communication | 3 |
| COMM 4350 | Communicating Leadership and Ethics | 3 |
| NTRES 3800 | | |
| NTRES 4330 | | |
| PHYS 7679 | | |
| PHIL 2455 | Introduction to Bioethics | 4 |
| STS 1201 | Information Ethics, Law, and Policy | 3 |
| STS 2051 | Ethical Issues in Health and Medicine | 4 |
| STS 4041 | Controversies in Science, Technology and Medicine: What They Are and How to Study Them | 3 |
