Op-Ed pieces relating to science appear frequently in major newspapers and news magazines. We will use contemporary Op-Ed articles as part of our course’s focus on the interactions between science, politics, religion, and popular opinion. Twice in the semester, you are required to find and read a recent Op-Ed piece, and then write a response paper that describes the relation of the piece to our course material.

Assignment Criteria: • You submit your papers by the start of class on the due dates. • Papers should be double-spaced, using either Arial or Times New Roman font, size 11. • A strict limit of 500 words will be enforced. • At the beginning of your paper, clearly indicate the title, author, source, and publication date of the article you have chosen (this information does not count towards the word limit).

Guidance: • If you do not regularly read the news and/or Op-Ed pieces, they are easy to find. For example, if you visit the New York Times website (nytimes.com), you can click on the “Opinion” section in the banner at the top of the page. Good sources are major newspapers (The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian), NPR, The Atlantic, and various other magazines and news outlets. Inappropriate sources include blogs, Facebook ‘news’ groups, etc. If you have questions about a source, please ask me before you start writing your paper. • I will not be too strict on what “recent” means, but the idea is for you to find something from within the past year or so. • The focus of your response paper should not be the science itself (e.g. do not write “this piece described images from the Hubble telescope, and we discussed astronomy in class”). Rather, focus on the aspects that relate to our course’s “big picture” questions. Think about how the view(s) expressed in the article reflect approaches towards understanding nature, and humankind’s place in the natural world. • I expect that your papers will have a clearly-stated thesis, an

d supporting arguments that draw directly from the Op-Ed article. You may also include quotes from any of our course readings for comparison/contrast. • Be careful that you do not insert your own opinions and biases into your response paper. The assignment is not to describe what you think or feel about the topic or the article. • The word limit is intended to make you think hard about being clear and concise. Short papers are just as challenging (if not more so) than long ones, and you should aim for a ‘lean’ paper that communicates your point without filler.