2025/07/12 by Lunsford, Karen, Brown, Kara Mae, Chenoweth, Rebecca +2
paper · doi:10.7940/m330.1.coverweb.lunsford
In recent years—marked by disruptive messaging regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and emergent technologies—interest in science communication has soared. By 'science communication,' we mean the popularization of scientific ideas beyond their narrow disciplinary niche. Issues with science communication have been addressed in many disciplines/fields, such as media studies, science education, and communication studies. We argue, though, that this division of science communication into different turfs adds to the siloing of STEM knowledge. In this special issue, we highlight the role that writing studies can play in bringing together disparate areas of research on shared issues. Currently, the prominent issues animating multiple disciplines/fields are questions about how to develop a nuanced understanding of audience, how to create effective practices for engaging audience(s), and how that engagement may be enhanced through the multimodal content that characterizes much of science communication. In this special issue, the contributors take up these themes of dynamic multimodal content, the relationships among scientists and the public, and the best methods for engaging audiences.