Projected Futures: Experimental Science Journalism Studies

Projected Futures 5 is an intensive and experiential summer school that will challenge participants to rethink how science is communicated with society. Graduate students will be exposed to the foundations of evidence-based science journalism and then asked to experiment to create new forms of scientific storytelling.

The school issues a collaborative, experimental challenge to participants:

What plausible future do you project for science journalism?

Show us and the world in two weeks!

One of a Kind Experience
A first of its kind in the Department of Journalism, Projected Futures was designed with the World Federation of Science Journalists and the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada. Student work will be presented at a Science Journalism Summit on August 12.

Audience
Local, national and international graduate students from any discipline with an interest in new forms of scientific storytelling and interdisciplinary experimentation. Those interested in communicating about health and medicine, in particular, should apply.

Academic Leader
David M. Secko, Ph.D.
Chair of Journalism and Professor
Concordia University

What skills will you learn?

Faculty

The school's faculty include leading science journalists and journalism educators.

Keynote

Apoorva Mandavilli
Apoorva Mandavilli is a reporter for The New York Times, focusing on science and global health. She has been covering the coronavirus pandemic since its earliest days in 2020. She is the 2019 winner of the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting. Apoorva is also the founding editor-in-chief of Spectrum, an award-winning news site on autism science that grew an audience of millions. She co-founded Culture Dish, an organization dedicated to enhancing diversity in science journalism, and was the founding chair of the Diversity Committee for the National Association of Science Writers.

Special Lecturers

Roxanne Khamsi
Roxanne Khamsi is an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in publications such as The Economist, WIRED magazine and The New York Times Magazine. She has taught at Stony Brook University’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.

Hannah Hoag
Hannah Hoag is the deputy editor and the energy and environment editor at The Conversation Canada. She has been a science journalist for 20 years, writing for a wide variety of publications including Nature, Discover and The Globe and Mail. She was the founding editor of Arctic Deeply, which provided news and analysis about circumpolar Arctic issues.

Samia Bouzid
Samia Bouzid is a freelance writer and audio storyteller based in Philadelphia. Her work spans a range of themes, including physics and space, language, and culture. She writes and edits scripts for the YouTube channel SciShow and is a podcast producer and sound designer for Adonde Media. She previously worked at NOVA | PBS, making videos for the YouTube channel What the Physics?! She holds an M.A. in journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and a B.S. in astrophysics from Rutgers University.

Faculty

David Secko
Professor, Department of Journalism
Now a science journalism scholar and leader of the Concordia Science Journalism Project, David Secko previously worked as a science journalist for The Scientist magazine, Vancouver’s Tyee, the Science Creative Quarterly, Canadian Medical Association Journal and the U.S. Public Library of Science (PLoS).

Cristina Sanza
Digital Journalism Instructor, Projected Futures Coordinator, Department of Journalism
Cristina Sanza is a Digital Journalism Instructor at Concordia University, who serves as the Associate Editor of the Departmental magazine, The City, and as the department's writing coach. She previously worked as a multimedia journalist and content producer for outlets including The Review, Concordia University’s Faculty of Arts and Science and Montreal’s healthcare network.

Andrea Hunter
Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Journalism
Andrea Hunter has worked for CBC Radio on national and regional shows for over a decade. She was a producer, on-air contributor and fill-in host of The Roundup, a daily national arts and entertainment program on CBC Radio One. She has also been a producer, reporter, and host on morning and afternoon shows on CBC Radio One in Prince Rupert, Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa.