A Week in Madison, Talking Writing & Science

I’m pleased to be going to the land of Deborah Blum, John Hawks, Siri Carpenter, and other illustrious types to spend a week talking with classes and giving public lectures about writing, science, music … and pretty much whatever anyone wants to talk about. If you’re in Madison, love to see you at one of the public talks, in a class if you’re one of the classes I’m visiting, in the pubs, or out-n-about.

My public talks are:

Tuesday, Nov 6 at 4 pm, Memorial Union: Working the Mystery: How to Write Real about Genes, Mind, Science, and Culture. That’s election day. I’m hoping for a strong turnout.

Friday, Nov 9 at 3 pm, Vilas Hall, Nafziger Room, 5th Floor: Writing with Zeppelin & Schubert on Your Shoulder: Musical Models for Longform Structure, which is probably the funnest talk I give. For me, anyway. Think ‘Kashmir’.

I’ll also be meeting with various classes in anthro, journalism, psychology, and other departments. If you’re in one of those, ask around.

Many thanks to Deborah Blum, Terry Devitt, Sharon Dunwoody, and the University of Wisconsin science writing program for hosting me. Very much looking forward to this. The university’s press release is below:

Author and science journalist David Dobbs will visit the UW-Madison campus the week of Nov. 4 as the 2012 Fall Science Writer in Residence.

Dobbs is the author of the recent Atavist best seller, “My Mother’s Lover,” and contributes features and essays for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Nature, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications.

He is the author of several books, his most recent being “Reef Madness,” which explores an argument that Chares Darwin had about how reefs form. He is currently writing a new book, “The Orchid and the Dandelion,” which explores the genetics of temperament.

Dobbs will visit the Madison campus the week of Nov. 4. He will spend the week teaching and exploring campus. He will give a free public lecture, “Working the Mystery: How to Write Real about Genes, Mind, Science, and Culture,” at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at the Memorial Union (check TITU).

The UW-Madison Science Writer in Residence Program, now in its 26th year, seeks to bring some of the nation’s top science writers to Wisconsin as a resource for the university community and others. It was established with support from the Brittingham Trust and continues with support from the UW Foundation. Past visiting writers include many of the nation’s leading science writers, including three whose work subsequently earned them the Pulitzer Prize.

The UW-Madison Science Writer in Residence Program is sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and University Communications.