The Metaphors We Use for Science Communication Matter
This week, I started collecting data for my dissertation, which asks how STEM graduate students think about science communication. This got me thinking and reading about the different mental models we have for science communication and why they matter for inclusion and belonging. Read on below to learn more.
I help scientists remember their humanity without forgetting the humanity of others. Book a workshop with me.
Shout Out
The Inside Books Project is an Austin-based community service volunteer organization that sends free books and educational materials to prisoners in Texas. Inside Books is the only books-to-prisoners program in Texas, where over 120,000 people are incarcerated. Inside Books Project works to promote reading, literacy, and education among incarcerated individuals and to educate the general public on issues of incarceration.
You can get involved by volunteering, donating funds, or donating books. I’m attending the orientation this coming weekend if you want a buddy :)
What I’m reading/watching/listening to
- Meditations on Enough
- Wolf Children
- On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters & Why You Should Care
- In the Mood for Love
- Imago
The Metaphors We Use for Science Communication Matter
Let’s talk about metaphors we use for science communication. The definitions we use and the metaphors we use for science communication matter. It may seem like a small thing, but these things have consequences for how we go about communicating science as well as who feels like they belong. So they matter a lot. There’s a lot that can be said about all three of the metaphors I’m going to talk about, but I’m going to give you a quick overview of them, and why I choose the third one (Science Communication as Culture).
So the three metaphors of science communication are (1) science communication as a transfer of information from an expert to a passive recipient or (2) science communication is as dialogue (so the recipient has now come a part of the conversation) or (3) thinking of science communication as an aspect of culture. And in this third one, it’s actually a part of popular culture. In that way, science communication becomes meaning-making–which means it’s a way that we make sense of the world. It’s a way we think about what it means to be human.
Because I study belonging in science communication, and I’m really interested in how we can create definitions and metaphors and meaning-making that actually transform science into a culture of belonging. The first step (for my dissertation), is to investigate what early-career scientists are thinking about this.
If you want to read more, there is some great work by Sarah Davies and Maja Horst on Science Communication as Culture that I draw from in my work. And if you know any STEM graduate students that attend the University of Texas at Austin that might be interested in participating in my research, send them my way (nichole.lynn.bennett@utexas.edu).
I help science communicators show up as their full selves without dimming anyone else’s light. Book a workshop with me.
