Science, Controversy, Policy

Leader: Jean Goodwin, Iowa State University

Science, Controversy, Policy 

Jean Goodwin, Iowa State University 

Science is increasingly prominent in policy controversies ranging from the global debate over climate change to intensely local arguments over school reform. In this workshop, we will examine the possibilities that this "scientization of politics/politicization of science" creates for rhetorical scholarship.  We aim to open a conversation within rhetorical studies between researchers working on the rhetoric of science and those studying civic discourse. We will take up topics such as the use and misuse of scientific information in policy arguments, the manufacture of scientific consensus and scientific doubt in the public sphere, and the roles scientists can play in civic deliberations. In order extend our conversation in interdisciplinary directions, we also hope to involve scientists and science policy researchers at UC-Boulder who are engaging some of the same issues. 

Questions? Contact Jean Goodwin, goodwin@iastate.edu