The Student Experience: The M.A. Program Science Concentration

Students in the Master of Arts Program's Science Concentration are experienced journalists who want to learn ways of thinking and reporting that can be used to cover any scientific field, whether it’s health, climate, technology or the hard sciences. They get a landscape view, looking at history, patterns of discovery and innovation. The seminar emphasizes understanding the culture and practice of science, giving students the skills to interpret a peer-reviewed study as well as providing a clear understanding of the peer-review process, its origin and its challenges. The course places particular emphasis on writing creatively and compellingly, whether in a short news story or in a long piece of narrative nonfiction. Working with core faculty members Marguerite Holloway and Jonathan Weiner, Science Concentration students will interpret studies, unearth important details, place scientific developments in context — and make science come alive. 

What is it like to be a member of the Science Concentration seminar? We recently talked about the student experience with Jose Alison Kentish, a 2020 graduate of the M.A. Science Concentration from Dominica who, since graduating from Columbia, has been reporting on environmental and social issues for Inter Press Service. Her master's thesis was second runner-up for Columbia's 2020 Best M.A. Thesis Award. 

What was your experience like in the M.A. Science Concentration core seminar? 

We had professors Jonathan Weiner and Marguerite Holloway, and I think one of the most beautiful aspects of the seminar for me was the training that they provided in narrative writing. Writing was something that I really tried to do a lot of in the Caribbean, but I still needed to work on it. Our assignments included taking really complicated science topics and journal articles, and finding a way to write about them in a way that a general audience can understand - and not just understand, but really appreciate and identify with. For me, that meant taking my dear physics professor’s words on why we are going to experience more intense storms, and having the ability to weave that into a story to tell my audience: "you know how we saw two category five hurricanes in the Caribbean back to back in 2017? The scientists are saying here’s why." I’m now able to do that, and I thought that was one of the most beautiful aspects of the program. 

We took field trips - we went to the Museum of Natural History to learn about dinosaurs and extinctions; it was really immersive and it was a truly beautiful learning experience for me. Some of the visiting professors were also out of this world. I really want to make particular mention of the fact that when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the spring semester, Professor Holloway had to tweak the syllabus in order that we could embrace what’s going on in around us - because it was our reality. We started having guests who specialized in zoonotic diseases for example, and she gave us the opportunity to write a story based on the pandemic. 

How would you describe the overall Master of Arts Program experience? 

The M.A. Program is something that will change your life. Some mornings, I still look back on it because I miss everybody. I miss my former classmates. I miss the relationships that we've established with our professors. I had not experienced that level of support before - it was new to me. If you know that you've worked hard, that you have some experience in reporting, and that you find you've been trying to find your niche, I would tell you to go for it. It's the experience of a lifetime.
 

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