How can we write about policy so that it's not technical or dry but enlivening? As a writing
instructor, I delight in finely argued, evidence-based documents. But I also crave policy writing
that balances rigorous analysis with stories that are deeply human and, when done well,
impossible to ignore. In this age of AI, moreover, this attention to human experience, with all its
attendant idiosyncrasies, feels increasingly essential.
This course takes its inspiration from Michael Lewis' edited book Who Is Government?, which
profiles people doing creative and often life-saving policy work. For our class, we'll craft
arguments that are grounded in the experiential so as to refine and expand our tools of persuasion
and communication. (Think winning minds and hearts.) We'll also produce an essay centered on
the work of individual policy practitioners, allowing us to gain skills in synthesizing and
translating technical information into readable, appealing prose.
From our varied and fantastic readings, we'll analyze not just an author's argument but how he
or she crafts this argument. Our principle here is "productive theft": i.e., what techniques can we
learn (or learn to avoid) and apply to our own prose. By doing so, we will further develop our
writing as well as our understanding of how policy is made and communicated.
No prerequisite writing course necessary.
