College Choices: Scientific Storytelling

Who says that you have to choose between being a storyteller and a scientist?  Kenyon College Provost Joseph L. Klesner argues that the two actually go together, like chocolate and peanut butter.  LOL, I said the chocolate and peanut butter; Provost Klesner more academically says that the opinion that humanities and sciences don't go together is actually a "false dichotomy."  And furthermore, that there is great value of "the liberal arts in connecting disparate disciplines for a more holistic view of the world."  (https://www.kenyon.edu/news/archive/scientific-storytelling/) 

While some students are clear about a thing they want to study in college, most students are curious about a lot of things.  Human beings are multifaceted creatures, loving art and math; chemistry and poetry; engineering and musicianship.  There are studies and ideas that we have not even heard about that might be fascinating, if only we had a chance to learn about them.  That's the point of a liberal arts education.  A liberal arts education is about learning about a lot of things: arts, sciences, writing, human nature, history, and even about political systems and ideological systems.  NOT to indoctrinate you, but to educate you about the world, including about worlds that you have not yet experienced.

Kenyon College's program in scientific storytelling is an incredible opportunity for student-scientists to share science through language.  For student-writers to "tell compelling stories about nature and other scientific topics."  To create consumable science to share with the rest of the world, helping those of us "out here" in the real world to keep up with science in a way that engages us, and that equips up to live our lives.

As students get ready to embark on their own college searches, please look for colleges that will allow them to explore everything about the world that they are curious about.  The stars, the environment, music making, poetry, history, human nature, and everything else.  That is capable of engaging the students thinking deeply about what matters in the world, and how they want to engage with reality.  A place to meet similarly curious classmates, and to benefit from the mentorship of faculty who care about how well students are learning.