UNACCEPTABLE RISK: Language, Health & Safety

Fall2016ANTHPH77103&ANTHC320.03Thursday5:30-7:20pmRoomHN710InstructorChristinaZarcadoolasThe Johnstown flood (1889); HIV epidemic (1990s); Hurricane Katrina (2005); childhood obesity; Flu; Ebola… There is a silent killer at work in most health and safety events – the gulf between the language of experts (science and medicine) and the language of various publics.

Sometimes referred to as health literacy or science literacy or simply literacies, people develop a wide range of skills, and competencies over a lifetime to seek out, comprehend, evaluate, and use health and science information to make informed choices, reduce risks, and increase survivability.

However, at least half of the adults in the US have low health literacy. An equal percentage have

difficulty reading and working with print. And only about 20% of the public is science literate. The makings of very disproportionate risks.

This course will explore the linguistic and communicative principles at work in the historical gap between experts and public discourse. We will apply theories and skills learned to better understand the mechanism of risk communication and try our hand at developing better messaging for publics.