Schedule
(Students in George Johnson's book group will meet each morning from Sunday through Wednesday. Details to be announced. The rest of the time they will join the regular sessions.)
Saturday, June 28
3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Social hour at Plaza Resolana. Meet the students and instructors.
6:30 p.m. Welcome talk by Cory Dean, science editor of The New York Times.
7:30 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Sunday, June 29
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
8:30 a.m. Everyone (book group included) meet in front of Plaza Resolana for ride to Santa Fe Institute.
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Beginning students will hear talks by two Santa Fe Institute scientists: Melanie Mitchell, whose research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, evolutionary computation, and artificial life; and Alan Perelson, a theoretical immunologist and AIDS researcher. Question-and-answer sessions will follow.
People in the beginning track will use this press conference as the basis for their writing assignments.
Students in the advanced track can skip the press conference and meet instead with Cory Dean, science editor of The New York Times, for career advice. Or they can sit in on the conference and enjoy the show. The book group will meet seperately on the portal.
11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Box lunch on portal of Santa Fe Institute. Beginning students will use this time to meet en masse with their instructors and discuss the morning's sessions and the mechanics of turning the talks into good stories. (The writing assignments -- a good, strong introduction and an outline -- will be critiqued in individual sessions beginning Wednesday morning.)
2 p.m. Return to Plaza Resolana.
2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Students in the advanced track will meet as a group with their instructors to begin discussing the writing samples they have submitted. Beginning students can start working on their writing assignments.
Everyone will have the rest of the day to wander around the Plaza and eat dinner.
Monday, June 30
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Panel discussion: Michael Lemonick (Time magazine) and Paul Hoffman (Discover). Writing for magazines. The fundamental dilemma: Magazine editors give assignments only to experienced writers, and the only way to get experience is to get an assignment. So how do you break in?
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Michael Lemonick. Inside Time Inc. How the magazine covers science and decides what is news.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Michael Lemonick, Paul Hoffman. How to sell a science book. With more and more scientists getting big advances to write their own popularizations, is there still a demand for books by journalists?
3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sandra Blakeslee. Collaborating with a scientist on a book. The result can be a best-seller. But how do you maintain your journalistic independence?
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Public readings of works-in-progress by Michael Lemonick, Paul Hoffman, George Johnson, and Sandra Blakeslee at Plaza Resolana.
7:45 p.m. Explore the Plaza; forage for dinner.
Tuesday, July 1
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Paul Hoffman. A day in the life of Discover's editor in chief. How he got into science
journalism. What it's like doing science commentaries on Good Morning America, Oprah, and the Newshour with Jim Lehrer. What it's like working for Disney.
10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Meet with your instructor for free-for-all discussions.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. George Johnson. Writing a scientific biography. How do you mix the abstract research with the scientist's very concrete personal life to come up with a compelling story?
3 p.m.Meet in front of Plaza Resolana for trip to Tsankawi ruins. Bring sunscreen, hat, and water.
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Explore the ruins.
7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Picnic dinner.
8:45 p.m. Return to Plaza Resolana.
Wednesday, July 2
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.
8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Each student will have a 30-minute individual consultation with his or her instructor and a detailed writing critique. While you are waiting, Tom Johnson will conduct a workshop on science writing and the Internet. As more documents and papers become available online, how can the Internet and the World Wide Web best be used for reporting science? What are the ground rules for interviewing people by email?
Also on Wednesday morning, you will have the chance to meet two more science writers who live in Santa Fe. John Casti is a mathematician associated with the Santa Fe Institute and the author of many popular books including "Paradigms Lost," "Searching for Certainty," "Complexification," and "Five Golden Rules." He is now finishing a novel involving Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alan Turing, J.B.S. Haldane, C.P. Snow, Erwin Schroedinger and the problem of thinking machines. Pamela McCorduck, who contributes regularly to Wired magazine is the author or coauthor of eight books including "Machines Who Think," "The Fifth Generation" (co-authored with Edward A. Feigenbaum) and "Aaron's Code," about art and artificial intelligence.
12 noon to 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Plaza Resolana.
1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Individual consultations continue. Relax and prepare for the evening's big event.
5:30 p.m.Meet in front of Plaza Resolana for a ride to the barbecue.
6 p.m. Barbecue at Sandra Blakeslee's house.
Thursday, July 3
7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. Breakfast at Plaza Resolana. Please check out before attending final session. Luggage can be left at the front desk.
9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Closing discussion.