A great idea that we need to see more often—using metaphor and creativity to explain science: Susan McConnell Stanford University Project: Developing and expanding courses that help students merge art and science. Growing up, Susan McConnell imagined herself as the next Jane Goodall. Goodall’s grand adventures studying chimpanzees in Tanzania—and her captivating storytelling—cracked open the joy of scientific research for the young McConnell. After receiving her PhD from Harvard University, McConnell found her own way to pursue scientific success. As a neurobiologist, she studies how neurons in the developing cerebral cortex are produced, assigned specific characteristics, and wired together into functional circuits. But even from her lab, McConnell felt the tug of Goodall’s larger vision. Great science was a starting point. Even greater power came from sharing the research in ways that inspire others to pursue and support it. “[Scientists] can’t just write to other scientists,” she says. “We need to be able to communicate to the general public.” Susan McConnell discusses the importance of writing and communication in the field of biology. That idea served as the catalyst for two new classes at Stanford: “Personal Essay in Biology” and “Senior Reflection in Biology.” Both courses allow students to bring an artistic sensibility to the science they study. We must present stories about science that are accessible, engaging, and informative. Susan McConnell In the first course, students spend a term working with award-winning writer Andrew Todhunter to complete a personal, deeply researched scientific essay in the style of magazines such as The New Yorker or National Geographic. In the second, students use a visual medium of their choice—photography (McConnell’s specialty), painting, or multimedia, for example—and spend a year working closely with faculty mentors in both science and the arts to create and polish their science-linked work for viewing in a campus gallery. In pilot programs, one student wrote a gripping personal essay that combined research about the neurochemistry of mental illness and the story of her roommate’s suicide. Another used sand animation to explore the impact of parasites in local water sources in Ghana; she shared a version of the project at a TEDx event and earned a standing ovation. McConnell says this twist on scientific thinking, through projects that she describes as “kind of ‘out there’ alternative models,” has the potential to transform the way students think about the science they do and the way they share that work with others. As an HHMI professor, McConnell plans to further develop and expand the popular programs, and add humanities students who are interested in using science as the foundation for their art. Communicating science in beautiful, accurate, and unexpected ways, she says, can help students wrestle with important problems.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 13:45:14 +0000
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