As midterms loom this week, course selection for next semester is the last thing on most students' minds. One Princetonian, however, has a special reason for thinking about spring classes: She's designing one of them.
Rebecca Nyquist '09 is formulating a course on how the media covers environmental issues after a summer internship with a radio show on the environment sparked her interest in the subject. While working for the California-based "EcoTalk" program, she saw "a real need for student content," and the idea for the seminar was born.
Students in the course will analyze television, radio, film and internet media related to the environment. They will focus on how the information conveyed by these sources has changed over time and how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable resources, with coverage of climate change receiving particular attention. The class will touch on the ethics of journalism as well.
Over the summer, Nyquist designed the syllabus for the course, which is divided into two parts. The first half of the course will be taught by Michael Lemonick, an astrophysics lecturer and former Time Magazine reporter, who said his part of the course will cover "how environmental news is conveyed to the public."
The second half will be more hands-on and will be taught by radio producer and University sustainability manager Shana Weber. Students will produce their own environmental radio pieces, attempting to combine all they have learned about media into their project. "Once you've cultivated the sense of what you're looking for [in reliable media], going to the production side is important," Nyquist said.
Using radio as a springboard, students will then move to creating film clips. Nyquist said her ultimate goal is for national broadcasters to become interested in media produced by students in her seminar.
Associate Dean of the College Peter Quimby, who is responsible for giving final approval to Nyquist's seminar, said he generally approves two or three student-initiated seminars per academic year. He added that he approves student-initiated courses "the same way we would approve any other course." The only difference is that the idea for a student-initiated seminar originates from a student rather than a department.
He added that his office evaluates proposals for new classes by examining the course description, reading assignments, exams, papers and prerequisites. Additionally, 12-18 students must have signed up to take the course, a faculty member must have agreed to teach it and the course must be funded.
A final decision on Nyquist's seminar will be made after Dec. 1.
Nyquist said that her interaction with the University administration has been positive and encouraging so far. "People have been really receptive to the seminar," she said. "It's just moved along really well."
Andrew Frederick '07, who designed a course titled "The Just University?" offered in fall 2006, echoed Nyquist's positive feedback on the process. "The administration was really good about it," he said. "The most challenging aspect was, logistically, you have to find the department to house the course."
Nyquist's current efforts to design a course build on her ongoing involvement in campus environmental issues. Previously, she worked with Weber to found the Student Environmental Communications Network (SECN), which produces student radio content discussing environmental issues.
Last year, the network produced two pieces — "Cool and Green Pre-loved Clothing" and "What We Think of Global Climate Change" — both of which were broadcast by area radio stations.
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