J226: GETTING OVER WILDERNESS
This is a background course in the intellectual history behind the American environmental movement, from Henry David Thoreau and John Muir to Rachel Carson and her contemporary heirs. How have our culture's peculiarly religious ideas about nature, and fixation on wilderness, colored the way we cover the environment? Why are so many environmental stories framed as zero-sum contests between Man and Nature? How else might these stories be framed? Journalists writing about the environment are powerfully influenced by a set of cultural ideas that we Americans take for granted, but that in fact have little grounding in the science of ecology or history of the American landscape. We'll read environmental history, nature writing and writings in ecology; each student will write a substantial piece of environmental journalism based on a case study. Download syllabus.


J298: THE LONG PIECE
The focus of the course will be on making the transition from writing for newspapers to magazines. What’s the difference between a subject and a story? When is the first-person appropriate? What is the role of the editor and publication in shaping your story? The arc of the course will trace the process of writing a single long piece: finding and pitching story ideas; reporting in depth and at length; outlining and structuring your story; choosing a narrative voice and strategy, crafting leads and “overtures,” and making transitions between your story and its larger contexts. As a group, we’ll also work as editors on one another’s ideas and pieces. And since reading good prose is the best way to learn to write it, we’ll be closely reading a substantial piece of non-fiction every week. This workshop is designed especially for second years embarking on a written master’s project; students will be expected to complete a first draft by the end of the term. Download syllabus.

J226: SCIENCE REPORTING:
COVERING THE FOOD CHAIN
It might be hard to see what transpires between a child and Big Mac as an ecological event, but of course that’s exactly what it is. Like every other creature, we are a species connected to other species, as well as to the earth and the sun, by a food chain—albeit a very special sort of food chain, one that’s been shaped by political and economic decisions as much as by biology. This course aims to develop the intellectual context in which to understand, and connect, the many food stories now finding their way to the front page: GMOs, the obesity epidemic, factory farming, animal rights and welfare, antibiotic resistance, agricultural pollution, agricultural subsidies, third world hunger, and the rise of alternatives to the industrial food system, such as organic agriculture and “slow food.” Expect to do lots of reading (from Upton Sinclair and Rachel Carson to Wendell Berry and Eric Schlosser) and writing. Download syllabus.

J298: THE EDITOR AS GOD
In the journalistic universe, editors are the sun: they assign the story, decide how it must be shaped and recast, determine how prominently it should appear. Yet for many journalists, the way editors work - the process by which they assign, edit, package a piece; the way they make the critical decisions that lead to the finished newspaper or magazine—remains a mystery, and often a frustrating one. In this class, part seminar and part workshop, we'll work closely on student manuscripts, wielding the blue pencil on one another's manuscripts as we follow the editing process from story inception to final cut. We'll read newspapers and magazines closely, analyzing how editors shape stories and how magazines organize the world for their readers. We'll come to understand what makes a New Yorker "fact piece" genetically different from a Harper's "report." In making you editors, we hope to make you better writers—and better journalists. Readings will include works by Renata Adler, Edward Jay Epstein, David Halberstam, A.J. Liebling, Janet Malcolm, Willie Morris, and Maxwell Perkins, among others. Download syllabus.

J298: ADVANCED WRITING TUTORIAL ON SCIENCE WRITING AND THE ENVIRONMENT
This workshop is designed for second-year students whose master's projects touch on the sciences or the environment. Expect to work intensively both on your own articles and, as editors, on those of your colleagues.

	Food Fight: A Teach-in On the 2007 Farm Bill Michael Pollan in conversation with Dan Imhoff, George Naylor, and Ann Cooper at UC Berkeley, March 21, 2007
	The Past, Present, and Future of Food Michael Pollan in conversation with John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods at UC Berkeley, February 27, 2007
	Food, Farming, and Genetics: A Panel Discussion with Michael Pollan Michael Pollan at the UC Davis Mondavi Center, February 12, 2007
	The Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan at the UC Davis Mondavi Center, February 12, 2007
	The Omnivore's Dilemma: Searching for the Perfect Meal in a Fast Food World Michael Pollan in conversation with Davia Nelson at UC Berkeley, April 17, 2006
	Beyond Organic: The Story of Polyface Farm A talk by Joel Salatin, February 24, 2005
	Bush Science A forum on the Bush Administration's Use and Abuse of Science in Policymaking, October 12, 2004
	Humanity 2.0: Will Your Grandchildren Be Genetically Modified? A conversation about the social and political implications of the new human biotechnologies September 28, 2004
	Following the Food Chain: The High Price of Cheap Food Explore the problems associated with industrial agriculture and the relatively low price of American food July 27, 2004
	Living With The Genie On Technology and the Quest for Human Mastery April 29, 2004

Biotech & Nanotech:
Remaking Nature in the Image of Technology
A Brownbag Lunch Talk by Andrew Kimbrell
April 27, 2004

Risk Analysis or the Precautionary Principle?
Thinking About, and Regulating, Emerging Technologies
March 31, 2004

Life Beyond Genes:
The Trouble With Genetic Engineering
March 4, 2004

The Pulse of Scientific Freedom
December 11, 2003

Fast Food World:
Perils and Promises of the Global Food Chain
November 24, 2003

The Politics of Obesity
November 20, 2003

The Ecology of Food
January 27, 2003

Cannabis, Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire
January 20, 2003

Factory Food: Are the Alternatives Viable?
September 23, 2002

Under the direction of Michael Pollan, the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism offers a range of opportunities to students interested in reporting on the sciences as well as on subjects involving science, including health, nutrition, the environment, and agriculture. The program's mission is to improve the quality of science reporting by training students to be more critical consumers of scientific information, and to bring a deeper scientific understanding to subjects like public health, food and agriculture, medicine, environmental policy and new technologies.

In addition to offering advanced reporting courses, the Knight Program regularly brings distinguished guests to campus, sometimes to speak to the community and sometimes to work with students in small workshops. In the last two years, the Program has hosted Eric Schlosser, Bill McKibben, Wendell Berry, Vandana Shiva, Dr. David Baltimore, Ray Kurzweil, Jack Hitt, and Marion Nestle, among many others. Recently, the Program has organized panel discussions on Bush science policy, the future of food, human biotechnology, alternative agriculture, and nanotechnology.