Science communication education is fundamentally concerned with relations between and within comm... more Science communication education is fundamentally concerned with relations between and within communities, cultures and institutions. Through exploration of these relations, it develops understanding of how knowledge is produced, shared and validated. Science communication operates at the boundaries and intersections of disciplines in its professional practice and it analyses them in research and education. At its interdisciplinary best, science communication is a continuing exercise in reflexivity on science and its place in wider intellectual and public culture. From this premise, this essay reflects on the promise of bringing perspectives from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to bear on science, the pleasures of science communication as "joyously interdisciplinary", but also on the problems in fulfilling the promise and realising the pleasures. It closes with a proposition for giving interdisciplinarity a more prominent place in science communication education.
Biographical essay on Daisy Bannard Cogley, actor, producer and director, and Fred Cogley, journa... more Biographical essay on Daisy Bannard Cogley, actor, producer and director, and Fred Cogley, journalist
Saothar - Journal of the Irish Labour History Society, 2021
Patrick Trench lived a short life (1905-1948) marked by illness, personal turmoil, financial inse... more Patrick Trench lived a short life (1905-1948) marked by illness, personal turmoil, financial insecurity, sporadic employment, and socialist activism. On his death, aged 43, from tuberculosis he was remembered in an Irish Times notice (12 March, 1948), as 'keenly interested in politics, particularly the Labour movement' and for having 'fought on the Republican side' in the Spanish Civil War. Those with a commitment to revolutionary socialism have celebrated him as an early advocate for Trotskyism in Ireland. 1 Between 1939 and 1941, Trench was a very visible presence in political journalism, writing regularly for the Irish Labour Party paper, Torch. His political writings and his activity within the Irish Labour Party in that period make him a significant figure in the history of Irish socialism as seen by Trotskyists. 2 Rayner Lysaght has published Trench's signed Torch articles along with reports of his speeches to Labour Party conferences and a sympatheticthough not unconditionally socommentary on Trench as activist. 3 Trench's political reputation is strongly tied to his involvement with the radical socialist party, POUM, in defence of the Spanish Republic against Franco's forces. 4 It is known that he was in Barcelona in 1936-37 and that he was associated with people supporting POUM but, as we shall see, we do not know a great deal more. Even less do we have evidence to support the claims made on his behalf that he 'fought' in the Spanish civil war. The entry on Trench in the Dictionary of Irish National Biography is more likely to be accurate in stating that he 'went to Barcelona as a noncombatant journalist'. 5
Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, 3rd ed, Feb 28, 2021
Book chapter on the development of science communication infrastructures, policies and practices ... more Book chapter on the development of science communication infrastructures, policies and practices across the world
Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current ... more Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current issues and recent research. But the status of science communication is uncertain in disciplinary terms. This commentary considers two dimensions of the status of discipline as they apply to science communication – the clarity with which the field is defined and the level of development of theories to guide formal studies. It argues that further theoretical development is needed to support science communication’s full emergence as a discipline.
Tecnoscienza : Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies, 2017
: Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communicat... more : Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communication is now an established field of graduate education, of empirical and applied studies and of theoretical reflection. The establishment of this field has been marked inter alia by the publication of dedicated journals, reference books and handbooks, and the organisation of regular international conferences and professional networks. The process reflects developments in science-society relations as expressed, for example, in notions of post-academic, post-normal, or mode-2 science, all of which posit the permeability of the previously conceived boundaries, leading to more communication between institutions and between the cultures of science and of institutions and the culture of the wider society. In this article we have selected ten terms that are frequently used in the public, professional and policy discussions about questions of science in society. Keywords : science communication; ...
In this essay the authors reflect on some recent trends in science communication research, celebr... more In this essay the authors reflect on some recent trends in science communication research, celebrating it as an inherently interdisciplinary endeavour. Some current tendencies in science communication are more limiting, however: they present theoretical and strategic prescriptions that do not adquately reflect the variety and cultural diversity of science communication internationally. Rethinking science communication in the context of such diverse practices and cultural reorientations, the authors revise some of their own views and revisit notions of communication as conversation to propose an inclusive definition of science communication as the social conversation around science.
Several cultures and several understandings of culture come into play when we consider the place ... more Several cultures and several understandings of culture come into play when we consider the place of science in culture. At least some of those cultures and understandings make the reflection, never mind the negotiation, of possible new relations difficult. One received ...
The European information society: a reality check, 2003
In discussions of the information society, technological developments and social relations are of... more In discussions of the information society, technological developments and social relations are often intertwined. Hence the 'wired society'or the 'networked society'becomes both a statement about the telecommunications infrastructure and a metaphor for a society that is ...
Short account of the Radical Club, active in Dublin 1925-27; published in Irish Arts Review, autu... more Short account of the Radical Club, active in Dublin 1925-27; published in Irish Arts Review, autumn 2018, as ‘The Would-Be Radicals of the Irish Free State’
This commentary considers the separate but interconnected evolution of science communication and ... more This commentary considers the separate but interconnected evolution of science communication and environmental communication as fields of research and practice, and argues for better mutual understanding between the fields, including an understanding of necessary differences. It notes that the repertoires of science communication and environmental communication overlap but have different emphases. Environmental communication emphasises public allegiances with a view to persuasion; science communication has focussed on public understanding and appreciation of science. The potential and the need for closer cooperation are growing as the authority of science is challenged in political arenas. Both fields recognise the important contributions of science to public sense-making and informed decision-making on major issues. Increasing engagement with the science that underpins environmental issues could benefit environmental communicators. In political contexts, science communication could learn from environmental communication’s greater attention to advocacy and symbolic representations.
Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communicatio... more Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communication is now an established field of graduate education , of empirical and applied studies and of theoretical reflection. The establishment of this field has been marked inter alia by the publication of dedicated journals, reference books and handbooks, and the organisation of regular international conferences and professional networks. The process reflects developments in science-society relations as expressed, for example, in notions of post-academic, post-normal, or mode-2 science, all of which posit the permeability of the previously conceived boundaries, leading to more communication between institutions and between the cultures of science and of institutions and the culture of the wider society. In this article we have selected ten terms that are frequently used in the public, professional and policy discussions about questions of science in society.
This report was commissioned by the Press Council of Ireland and Press Ombudsman. It was submitte... more This report was commissioned by the Press Council of Ireland and Press Ombudsman. It was submitted in 2009 and accepted for publication on the council's web site. The materials were collected and analysed by graduate students Áine Maguire and Carl Fox under the authors' supervision.
Science communication education is fundamentally concerned with relations between and within comm... more Science communication education is fundamentally concerned with relations between and within communities, cultures and institutions. Through exploration of these relations, it develops understanding of how knowledge is produced, shared and validated. Science communication operates at the boundaries and intersections of disciplines in its professional practice and it analyses them in research and education. At its interdisciplinary best, science communication is a continuing exercise in reflexivity on science and its place in wider intellectual and public culture. From this premise, this essay reflects on the promise of bringing perspectives from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to bear on science, the pleasures of science communication as "joyously interdisciplinary", but also on the problems in fulfilling the promise and realising the pleasures. It closes with a proposition for giving interdisciplinarity a more prominent place in science communication education.
Biographical essay on Daisy Bannard Cogley, actor, producer and director, and Fred Cogley, journa... more Biographical essay on Daisy Bannard Cogley, actor, producer and director, and Fred Cogley, journalist
Saothar - Journal of the Irish Labour History Society, 2021
Patrick Trench lived a short life (1905-1948) marked by illness, personal turmoil, financial inse... more Patrick Trench lived a short life (1905-1948) marked by illness, personal turmoil, financial insecurity, sporadic employment, and socialist activism. On his death, aged 43, from tuberculosis he was remembered in an Irish Times notice (12 March, 1948), as 'keenly interested in politics, particularly the Labour movement' and for having 'fought on the Republican side' in the Spanish Civil War. Those with a commitment to revolutionary socialism have celebrated him as an early advocate for Trotskyism in Ireland. 1 Between 1939 and 1941, Trench was a very visible presence in political journalism, writing regularly for the Irish Labour Party paper, Torch. His political writings and his activity within the Irish Labour Party in that period make him a significant figure in the history of Irish socialism as seen by Trotskyists. 2 Rayner Lysaght has published Trench's signed Torch articles along with reports of his speeches to Labour Party conferences and a sympatheticthough not unconditionally socommentary on Trench as activist. 3 Trench's political reputation is strongly tied to his involvement with the radical socialist party, POUM, in defence of the Spanish Republic against Franco's forces. 4 It is known that he was in Barcelona in 1936-37 and that he was associated with people supporting POUM but, as we shall see, we do not know a great deal more. Even less do we have evidence to support the claims made on his behalf that he 'fought' in the Spanish civil war. The entry on Trench in the Dictionary of Irish National Biography is more likely to be accurate in stating that he 'went to Barcelona as a noncombatant journalist'. 5
Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology, 3rd ed, Feb 28, 2021
Book chapter on the development of science communication infrastructures, policies and practices ... more Book chapter on the development of science communication infrastructures, policies and practices across the world
Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current ... more Several publications have sought to define the field of science communication and review current issues and recent research. But the status of science communication is uncertain in disciplinary terms. This commentary considers two dimensions of the status of discipline as they apply to science communication – the clarity with which the field is defined and the level of development of theories to guide formal studies. It argues that further theoretical development is needed to support science communication’s full emergence as a discipline.
Tecnoscienza : Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies, 2017
: Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communicat... more : Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communication is now an established field of graduate education, of empirical and applied studies and of theoretical reflection. The establishment of this field has been marked inter alia by the publication of dedicated journals, reference books and handbooks, and the organisation of regular international conferences and professional networks. The process reflects developments in science-society relations as expressed, for example, in notions of post-academic, post-normal, or mode-2 science, all of which posit the permeability of the previously conceived boundaries, leading to more communication between institutions and between the cultures of science and of institutions and the culture of the wider society. In this article we have selected ten terms that are frequently used in the public, professional and policy discussions about questions of science in society. Keywords : science communication; ...
In this essay the authors reflect on some recent trends in science communication research, celebr... more In this essay the authors reflect on some recent trends in science communication research, celebrating it as an inherently interdisciplinary endeavour. Some current tendencies in science communication are more limiting, however: they present theoretical and strategic prescriptions that do not adquately reflect the variety and cultural diversity of science communication internationally. Rethinking science communication in the context of such diverse practices and cultural reorientations, the authors revise some of their own views and revisit notions of communication as conversation to propose an inclusive definition of science communication as the social conversation around science.
Several cultures and several understandings of culture come into play when we consider the place ... more Several cultures and several understandings of culture come into play when we consider the place of science in culture. At least some of those cultures and understandings make the reflection, never mind the negotiation, of possible new relations difficult. One received ...
The European information society: a reality check, 2003
In discussions of the information society, technological developments and social relations are of... more In discussions of the information society, technological developments and social relations are often intertwined. Hence the 'wired society'or the 'networked society'becomes both a statement about the telecommunications infrastructure and a metaphor for a society that is ...
Short account of the Radical Club, active in Dublin 1925-27; published in Irish Arts Review, autu... more Short account of the Radical Club, active in Dublin 1925-27; published in Irish Arts Review, autumn 2018, as ‘The Would-Be Radicals of the Irish Free State’
This commentary considers the separate but interconnected evolution of science communication and ... more This commentary considers the separate but interconnected evolution of science communication and environmental communication as fields of research and practice, and argues for better mutual understanding between the fields, including an understanding of necessary differences. It notes that the repertoires of science communication and environmental communication overlap but have different emphases. Environmental communication emphasises public allegiances with a view to persuasion; science communication has focussed on public understanding and appreciation of science. The potential and the need for closer cooperation are growing as the authority of science is challenged in political arenas. Both fields recognise the important contributions of science to public sense-making and informed decision-making on major issues. Increasing engagement with the science that underpins environmental issues could benefit environmental communicators. In political contexts, science communication could learn from environmental communication’s greater attention to advocacy and symbolic representations.
Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communicatio... more Originating in science outreach and influenced by social studies of science, science communication is now an established field of graduate education , of empirical and applied studies and of theoretical reflection. The establishment of this field has been marked inter alia by the publication of dedicated journals, reference books and handbooks, and the organisation of regular international conferences and professional networks. The process reflects developments in science-society relations as expressed, for example, in notions of post-academic, post-normal, or mode-2 science, all of which posit the permeability of the previously conceived boundaries, leading to more communication between institutions and between the cultures of science and of institutions and the culture of the wider society. In this article we have selected ten terms that are frequently used in the public, professional and policy discussions about questions of science in society.
This report was commissioned by the Press Council of Ireland and Press Ombudsman. It was submitte... more This report was commissioned by the Press Council of Ireland and Press Ombudsman. It was submitted in 2009 and accepted for publication on the council's web site. The materials were collected and analysed by graduate students Áine Maguire and Carl Fox under the authors' supervision.
Presidential address to PCST 2018, international conference on science communication, Dunedin, NZ... more Presidential address to PCST 2018, international conference on science communication, Dunedin, NZ, 4 April 2018
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Papers by Brian Trench