revised 5/15/06
Monday, May 22
3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Registration at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe. Pick up your room key and registration packet at the front desk.
5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Reception followed by buffet supper in the courtyard (weather permitting) or dining room. Meet the students and instructors.
Tuesday, May 23
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
Breakfast at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
8:30 a.m. Meet in front of the building for a ride to the Santa Fe Institute.
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. "The Art and Craft of Science Writing." Using the current week's issue of Science Times, the instructors, joined by Jim Gorman, the section's editor, will deconstruct several stories, showing how they were assembled and reviewing the rules of the game (which are sometimes made to be broken).
Coffee break.
10:45 a.m. to 12 noon. Three Santa Fe Institute researchers, Jessica Flack, Michelle Girvan, and David Krakauer, discuss self-organization in primate societies, focusing on how a group acting as police officers spontaneously arises in a community of macaques. Please read their paper in Nature beforehand. (Students may use this as the basis for their writing assignments, which will be critiqued during the workshop sessions. See the FAQ for details.)
12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. Box lunch on the portal of the Santa Fe Institute. Students will meet with their group for the first time.
1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The discussion about primate police resumes with questions from the press gallery.
3:15 p.m. Return to Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. Students will meet again with their instructors to discuss the morning's sessions and the mechanics of turning the talks into stories.
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. A showing of the documentary "The Fish That Time Forget," which will be discussed on Friday by its director, Celia Lowenstein.
7 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Wednesday, May 24
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. "Behind the Scenes at Science Times." Jim Gorman talks about how he and the staff go about finding, reporting, and presenting the week's science news.
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. "Writing for the Sunday Magazine."
Shankar Vedantam gives a blow-by-blow description of the genesis and execution of two of his cover stories for the Washington Post Magazine: "See No Bias," on the science of prejudice, and "Eden and Evolution," on Intelligent Design.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. "Life on Your Own as a Syndicated Columnist." Judy Foreman tells how she left a secure job at the Boston Globe almost six years ago to strike out on her own, syndicating her weekly health column to newspapers across the country and developing a sideline as a radio and, lately, webcast commentator.
3 to 5 p.m. Workshop session. Students will break into groups and meet with their assigned instructor.
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Public readings of works-in-progress by the instructors. Collected Works bookstore will sell copies of the authors' books.
7:45 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Thursday, May 25
7:30 a.m. to 8:15
a.m. Breakfast at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. "What Do Editors Want?" Drawing on a career in magazines, Tim Appenzeller talks about science writing from an editor's point of view. During the discussion students will have a chance to pitch story ideas and see what flies.
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. "The Pope, Buddha, and Intelligent Design." George Johnson tells how an invitation to review the Dalai Lama's latest book for the New York Times led to two essays on science and religion and a spate of Buddhist hate mail. You can read the essays here.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
1:30
p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Workshop session. Meet with your instructor.
3 p.m. Meet in front of Ghost Ranch Santa Fe for a field trip
to Bandelier National Monument. Bring
sunscreen, hat, water, and (depending on the forecast) rain gear.
4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Explore the ruins.
6:30 p.m. to
9:00 p.m.
Dinner at
Rancho de Chimayo in the mountain village of Chimayo, N.M.
9:15 p.m. Return to Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
Friday May 26
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at
Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Meet for the final time with your group.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe.
1:30
p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Celia Lowenstein discusses the making of "The Fish That Time Forget" (about the South African Coelacanth).
3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Each
instructor will be available to meet informally with students from all
groups. Meanwhile relax and prepare for the week's big event.
5:30 p.m. Meet in front of Ghost Ranch Santa Fe for a ride to the
barbecue at Sandy's desert hideaway.
6 p.m. to whenever.
Barbecue at Sandra Blakeslee's house.
Saturday, May 27
7:30 a.m. to 8:15
a.m. Breakfast at Ghost Ranch Santa Fe. Please check out before attending
the final session. Luggage can be left at the front desk.
9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Freelancing and career advice. Sandra Blakeslee leads the other instructors in a question-and-answer session on surviving as a science writer.
10:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. Closing discussion and farewell.