Science and nature writing at Kenyon empowers students to become skilled storytellers who can communicate complex scientific issues to a general audience. In this interdisciplinary program, students write artfully, creatively, and with precision about the natural world.
Building on Kenyon’s renowned writing program, the science and nature writing program cultivates a vibrant literary science community and situates scientific knowledge and its discovery within the liberal arts tradition. In courses across the college, students explore genres ranging from nature writing and science poetry to popular science writing and biomedical narrative. Working closely with faculty and each other, Kenyon students learn to communicate the narratives that underpin STEM research and enrich the stories they tell with scientific detail.
ENG 291: Making Science and Nature Comics
Students bring together science, visual art and creative writing to explore scientific concepts in this interdisciplinary course taught by Mellon Science and Nature Writing Fellow Frances Cannon. Here's a sampling of their work.
Featured Courses
Introduction to Science and Nature Writing
There has been a renaissance of science writing for the common reader that combines literary and scientific merit. This interdisciplinary science writing course will combine literary analysis of exemplary essays on scientific topics with a writing workshop that requires students to do close observation of scientific processes, conduct independent research and interviews, interpret data, and present scientific information in highly readable form.
Queer Flora, Fauna, Funga
Curious about the intersection of queer theory, literary criticism, creative nonfiction, ecology, botany, mycology, lichenology, and biology? Along with reading, discussing and analyzing others’ texts, we will venture into our own writing—primarily through the medium of creative nonfiction, but also leaving room for more experimental forms—to explore the concept of queerness in the natural world.
The Hoskins Frame Summer Science Writing Scholars
Open to students with interests in both science and creative expression, the summer program provides opportunities to work in close collaboration with mentors in creative writing, the natural sciences and Kenyon's Office of Communications.
News & Stories by the Hoskins Frame Summer Science Writing Scholars
Perfecting Polymer Production
For a Summer Science Scholar in Yutan Getzler’s polymer chemistry lab, it was an exciting summer of trial and error.
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Teatime in the Cemetery
Kenyon NewsHow an Environmental Studies Sustainability Scholar is using tea to assess green burial as a tool for conservation.
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Mice and Mazes
Kenyon NewsA Summer Science Scholar explores how mice can help autism research.
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Bryn Savidge ’24 created an interactive coloring book to help kids learn about barn swallows, a species in decline.
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Related Publications
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Scientific Kenyon
A magazine produced by seniors in the neuroscience department shows off their ability to produce science writing for the masses.
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Lyceum
A creative science community publishes volumes of Kenyon student writing inspired by science.
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A Lesson in Taxidermy
Read about what dissecting her first bird taught biology major Sarah Jean McPeek '19 about evolution and fragility.
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BFEC Newsletter
A seasonal newsletter published by Kenyon's Brown Family Environmental Center includes articles focusing on science and nature.
Related Workshops
Sarah the Explorer
How a nature lover from New Hampshire connected her interests in science and writing to tell stories about the world.
Sarah McPeek '19 started the scientific literary magazine Lyceum and a podcast where she interviewed student researchers about what they were up to in Kenyon's labs. "Good science is like good storytelling," she explains. "You're building the story of your work."
“Science is the process of telling stories about the world: here’s something you didn’t know, here’s how you figured it out, and here’s what you learned. The way you communicate that is how you move the work forward. What you know isn’t worth knowing unless it’s shared with others.”
