About - Part II

Sponsored by the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University and supported by a generous grant from the National Science Foundation.

Co-sponsors: the Creative Nonfiction Foundation and The Writer’s Center

What is it?
A yearlong program, supported by the National Science Foundation, featuring two multi-day workshops in Washington, DC and Tempe, Arizona. Twelve emerging communicators and 12 early-career science and innovation policy scholars will learn about creative/narrative nonfiction storytelling techniques; meet with and learn from creative writing and science journalism professors, museum professionals, and editors of mainstream publications; and collaborate, in scholar-communicator pairs, on narrative essays to appear in a nationally-distributed publication.

Each workshop will include a keynote event and sessions led by prominent narrative/creative nonfiction writers, teachers, editors and agents, featuring Lee Gutkind, “the godfather behind creative nonfiction” (Vanity Fair) and the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction.

This is a unique and challenging opportunity open to next generation science and innovation policy scholars and next generation communicators working in any genre(s) and interested in science, technology and the social sciences. All participants will receive an honorarium plus travel expenses to the workshops.

To Think, To Write, To Publish will help writers learn much more about the process and importance of research and the vital importance of policy, and scholars learn about how to utilize creative nonfiction storytelling techniques to make science policy more accessible to a general audience.

Workshop schedule:
Washington, DC: October 3 - 7, 2012
Tempe, Arizona: May 16 – 20, 2013 (tentative)

Who Should Apply?

Communicators: Writers, journalists, poets, documentary filmmakers, museum communicators, and bloggers and others involved in alternative media may apply. Applicants should be at the beginning stages of their careers, with no more than one published or accepted book or one film/video accepted at a major festival; no more than five essays/articles/stories in recognized journals or magazines in the field of science, technology and public policy; and/or no more than two years as a reporter for a daily/weekly newspaper, radio or TV station or network; in a staff position as writer or editor for a magazine, news outlet or feature service in a science, technology or policy-oriented beat; or writing for in-house museum publications such as magazines and catalogues.

Science & Innovation Policy Scholars: Eligible applicants will have received their PhD (or other terminal degree) in 2006 or more recently and will not be in a tenured position.

To apply as a communicator, please send:

• A one-page cover letter that should include the following information:
• Your name and complete contact information
• Your current position and place of employment
• Academic background: institutions and dates of degrees, as well as any other pertinent information
• A list of recent publications
• A two-page, single-spaced statement describing your interest and background in creative/narrative nonfiction, both from an experiential and academic point of view. Please address, as well, your goals as a communicator explain your interest in To Think, To Write, To Publish: why are you applying, and (if accepted) what do you hope to get out of the program?

To apply as a scholar, please send:

• A one-page cover letter that should include the following information:
• Your name and complete contact information
• Your current position and place of employment
• Academic background: institutions and dates of degrees, as well as any other pertinent information
• A list of recent publications
• A two-page single-spaced statement describing your interest and background in science, technology and public policy, both from an experiential and academic point of view. Please address, as well, your goals as a communicator and explain your interest in To Think, To Write, To Publish: why are you applying, and (if accepted) what do you hope to get out of the program?

Writing or other media samples will be considered as part of all applications, but are not required. If you include work samples, please be sure to note this in your cover letter. If applying by email, please attach work samples as a separate file from the application PDF.

Applications will be judged on (1) intellectual quality; (2) clear relevance to science and technology policy issues; and (3) evidence of effective creative communication skills. All applications will be evaluated by two independent panels of writers, STP experts and social scientists.

Download Application (PDF)

Submit completed applications to CSPO

by regular mail:

Attn: To Think, To Write, To Publish Grant Administrator
Consortium for Science, Policy, & Outcomes
Arizona State University
P.O. Box 875603
Tempe, AZ 85287

or by email:

ThinkWritePublish@gmail.com

*Electronic Submissions — Please send your application materials (including the cover letter) as a single PDF file. Please be sure to include your name and contact information in the text of your email and use the subject line “Application from [Your name].” Emails may be addressed to: Grant Administrator.

Application Deadline: 15 June 2012 (23:59 PST, for email applications)

Applicants will be notified by July 15, 2012.

QUESTIONS?

Please send an email to ThinkWritePublish@gmail.com and include your name in the subject line.