Saturday, June 16
3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Registration at Plaza Resolana. Pick up room
key and registration packet at front desk.
5 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Wine and cheese reception at Plaza Resolana.
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Meet the students and instructors.
7:45 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Sunday, June 17
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana.
8:30 a.m. Meet in front of Plaza Resolana for ride to Santa Fe
Institute.
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. "The Art and Craft of Science Writing." The instructors will deconstruct a recently published science story, showing how it was assembled and reviewing the rules of the game (which are sometimes made to be broken).
Coffee break.
10:30 a.m. to 12 noon. First press conference. Douglas Erwin, a research paleobiologist at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, will talk about a recent study of the mass extinction that occured at the end of the Permian period, when more than 90% of all marine species vanished in less than 500,000 years. Question-and-answer session will follow.
12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Box lunch on portal of Santa Fe Institute. Students will meet for the first time with their instructors.
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Second press conference. Thomas Kepler, vice president for academic affairs at the Santa Fe Institute, will talk about his research on Darwinian evolution in the genes of the vertebrate immune system. Question-and-answer session will follow.
3:15 p.m. Return to Plaza Resolana.
3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. Students will meet again with their
instructors to discuss the morning's sessions and the mechanics of
turning the talks into good stories. (Beginning students will use the
press conference as the basis for their writing assignments -- a good,
strong introduction and an outline -- which will be critiqued during the workshop sessions. Advanced students will bring other material for discussion. See FAQ
for details.)
Everyone will have the rest of the day to work on their assignments or
wander around the Plaza.
Monday, June 18
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana.
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. "Anatomy of an Investigation." Shannon
Brownlee deconstructs her investigation of ethics in cancer clinical
trials. She'll tell how to get FOIA requests filled and find sources who
will talk and victims who will tell their stories, making sure all the
while that the investigation doesn't turn into a witch hunt.
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. "The Politics of Embargo." Dr.
Lawrence K. Altman, chief medical correspondent for The New York Times,
will talk about the war between science writers and journal editors over
the proper time to break an important story.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
"The Blakeslee Guided Tour of 20th-Century Science Writing." Every
science and medical story unfolds within the culture of its times. As
society changes and progress marches on, the flaws and biases of science
writing become abundantly -- and sometimes humorously -- clear. Sandra
Blakeslee will demonstrate this state of affairs with clippings from the
files of her grandfather, Howard Blakeslee (AP science editor from the
1920s to the 1950s), her father, Alton Blakeslee (AP science writer and
editor from the 1940s to the 1980s), and from her own work as a science
writer for the New York Times, beginning in 1968.
3 to 4:15 p.m. "The Moralistic Dilemmas of Reporting." The American psychologist Harry Harlow, the subject of Deborah Blum's forthcoming biography, conducted experiments on baby monkeys that remain among the most controversial in animal research, but the findings are bedrock to those studying children from troubled homes. Blum discusses how a journalist explores -- and writes honestly about -- such ethically perilous, morally troubling and ultimately important research.
4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Workshop session. Students will break into groups and meet with their assigned instructor.
6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Public readings of works-in-progress by the
instructors. Collected Works bookstore will sell copies of the
authors' books.
8:15 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Tuesday, June 19
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana.
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. "How to Pitch a Story." Philip Elmer
Dewitt will discuss the top 10 things that make a story newsworthy
(impact, proximity, surprise, a good yarn,
exclusivity, the boss wants it, etc.) using real examples from Time
magazine. Then students (who will be given abstracts of the articles in
the coming issues of Nature and Science) will pitch their favorite
stories while Elmer Dewitt plays Time Magazine Science Editor, saying
what interests him, what bores him, what pisses him off, and why.
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. "The Story of a Story." Continuing what
threatens to become a tradition, George Johnson will hook his laptop to a
digital projector and trace the development of one of his stories for the
Times, from the initial pitch to the editor and the gathering of
information to the writing and final edit.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. . Workshop session. Meet with your
instructor.
3 p.m. Meet in front of Plaza Resolana for field trip to
Tsankawi ruins. Bring sunscreen, hat, water, and (depending on the
forecast) rain gear.
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Explore the ruins.
6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Dinner at Rancho de Chimayo in the
mountain village of Chimayo, N.M.
9:15 p.m. Return to Plaza Resolana.
Wednesday, June 20
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana.
9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Meet for the final time with your group.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Freelancing discussion. Deborah Blum and
Shannon Brownlee will give advice on pursuing a career as a freelancer,
while Philip Elmer Dewitt gives an editor's perspective.
3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Each instructor, including Larry Altman,
will be available to meet informally with students from all groups.
Meanwhile relax and prepare for the week's big event.
5:30 p.m. Meet in front of Plaza Resolana for a ride to the
barbecue.
6 p.m. to whenever. Barbecue at Sandra Blakeslee's house.
Thursday, June 21
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana. Please
check out before attending final session. Luggage can be left at the
front desk.
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Closing discussion and farewell.