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Program in
Communication of Science and Technology

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Major and Minor

Explore and Discover. Innovations in science significantly impact our everyday lives—from vaccines to artificial intelligence. The need to understand and communicate those advancements to the public is critical. From broadcast and print journalism to law and medicine, there is a great demand for people who understand science, engineering, and technology and can translate it to wide variety of audiences. The major in communication of science and technology prepares students to be a link between science, technology, and the public, preparing them for a wide range of careers.

Major | Minor | Honors | Major/Minor Declaration

The Communication of Science and Technology Major

Designed for students interested in distilling science and technology into clear messages and compelling stories for a variety of audiences. This major draws on both the scientific and creative communities.

The major in CSET consists of 42 credit hours, as follows:

Required Core (9 credit hours)

  • CSET 1500: Communicating Science (3 credit hours)
  • CSET 2100: Science Communication Tools and Techniques (3 credit hours)
  • CSET 2500: Science for Everyone (3 credit hours)

Natural Sciences/Engineering Courses (15 credit hours)

Students may take any level of Mathematics and Natural Science (MNS) and/or Engineering (ENG) courses to fulfill the 15 credit hours.

Telling Scientific Stories (6 credit hours)

At least 3 hours each from the writing skills and science and narrative categories below:

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Bridging Courses (9 credit hours)

Bridging courses present an innovative way to explore issues at the intersection of science and the humanities. Courses are offered by a wide range of departments, including anthropology, economics, Earth sciences, English, political science, math, philosophy, and more. For a full list of approved courses, refer to the Bridging Courses section in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Electives (3 credit hours)

3 credit hours chosen from any courses or combination of courses below:

  • CSET 3840: Directed Study
  • CSET 3841: Project in Science Writing and Communicating
  • CSET 3880, 3881: Internships
  • Research (research hours can include appropriate credit hours from another department or program; these hours must be approved by the student’s CSET adviser)
  • CSET 4998: Honors in CSET
  • Qualifying Telling Scientific Stories or Bridging the Sciences and Humanities or Natural Science and/or Engineering Depth courses
  • One additional 2100-level or higher W course from any department or program in A&S.

The Communication of Science and Technology Minor

The minor in communication of science and technology is a powerful complement to many natural science, social science, and humanities majors. For those students who want to take just a single course that provides an overview of science communication, CSET 2100: Science Communication Tools and Techniques is a good choice.

The minor in CSET consists of six courses, totaling a minimum of 18 credit hours, distributed as follows:

Required Core (9 hours)

  • CSET 1500: Communicating Science
  • CSET 2100: Science Communication Tools and Techniques
  • CSET 2500: Science for Everyone

Telling Scientific Stories (3 credit hours)

At least one 3-credit-hour course from either list below.

  • Blogging: CSET 3215W, ENGL 3215, ENGL 3215W
  • Technical writing: CSET 3090, 3100, 3200W, BME 4951, CE 4950, ChBE 4951W, CHEM 3135W, ENGM 2210, ME 4951, ES 2100W, PSCI 2256, 3266
  • Investigative journalism: CSET 3320W, ENGL 3896, 3896W
  • Science writing: ANTH 3150W, CSET 3240W, 3241W, 3281W, 3320W, ENVS 4101W, ENGL 3440W, ENGL 3720, ENGL 3720W, ENGL 3730, ENGL 3730W
  • Climate studies writing: ENVS 4101W, SOC 3318
  • Non-fiction writing: ENGL 3210, ENGL 3220
  • Fiction writing: ENGL 3210, ENGL 3220
  • Science fiction writing: ENGL 3728, 3728W, RUSS 2273W
  • Script writing: CMA 2500W, CMA 2510W, CMA 2600W, THTR 2311W, THTR 3311)
  • History of science writing: HIST 1385W, HIST 1470, HIST 1480, HIST 1500, HIST 1510, HIST 1510L, HIST 1520, HIST 1780W, HIST 2139, HIST 2160, HIST 2413W, HIST 2780, HIST 2800, HIST 2810, HIST 3040, HIST 3045W, HIST 3050, HIST 3070W, HIST 3110, HIST 3230, and, as appropriate, HIST 3746, HIST 3850, HIST 3882, HIST 3883, HIST 3890, HIST 3980, HIST 4960, HIST 4980–4981, and HIST 4999; ANTH 4373; ASIA 2630; ASTR 2130; ENGL 3720 or 3720W; MATH  3000; MHS 2110, MHS 2310, MHS 2320, MHS 2430
  • Science-related philosophy: PHIL 3601, PHIL 3604, PHIL 3608, PHIL 3611, PHIL 3612, PHIL 3616, PHIL 3657
  • Science-related religious studies: RLST 2811, RLST 3472, RLST 3921, RLST 3941
  • HONS 1830W and 1850W courses
  • Other: CMST 3250W, EES 2309W
  • CSET 3891: Special topics in Writing Skills
  • Virtual reality: CSET 3257, CS 4249, CMA 1820W, CMA 3257
  • Podcasting: CSET 2200
  • Telling stories with data: CSET 3410
  • Film making: CMA 1500, CMA 2240, CMA 2250, CMA 2260, CMA 2270, CMA 3891
  • CSET 3892: Special Topics in Science and Narrative

Bridging Course (3 credit hours)

Bridging courses present an innovative way to explore issues at the intersection of science and the humanities. Courses are offered by a wide range of departments, including anthropology, economics, Earth sciences, English, political science, math, philosophy, and more. For a full list of approved courses, refer to the Bridging Courses section in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Natural Science/Engineering (3 credit hours)

  • Students may take any level of Mathematics and Natural Science (MNS) and/or Engineering (ENG) courses to fulfill the 3 credit hours.

Honors Program

Honors in CSET is a selective program of individual undergraduate work, supervised by a faculty adviser. Honors candidates propose, construct, and complete a project (written, visual, aural, digital, or a combination) that demonstrates the ability to communicate science, in-depth, to a nonexpert audience.

Requirements:

  • Must be a CSET major and have completed a minimum of 21 hours towards the major
  • 3.3 cumulative GPA, 3.4 CSET GPA
  • 1 semester of CSET 3840: Directed Study or CSET 3841: Project in Science Writing and Communicating (directed study/research thesis)
  • 1 semester of CSET 4998: Honors Thesis (write thesis)

During the CSET 3840/41 semester you’ll choose a faculty member to direct the thesis, decide on a topic, develop a reading list, and outline a scope of work.

During the CSET 4998 semester you’ll choose committee members, complete the research, write the thesis, and defend the thesis.

If you are interested in completing an honors thesis, please reach out to one of our faculty members for more guidance.

Declaring a Major or Minor

Undergraduate students can utilize the Major/Minor Declaration form in Kuali to request to add, drop, or change their majors and/or minors. For assistance in Kuali, please reference the Student User Guide.

Once submitted, the request form will then route to Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Shellie Richards, and to the A&S Dean’s Office for approval. Upon final approval, the Office of the University Registrar will process the declaration.

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