Year
2016
Abstract
The ability to persuade others through effective communication is essential for professionals working in nuclear science and security, whose mission is to develop the peaceful uses of nuclear science and nuclear power, and to keep the world safe from nuclear terror and accident. Writing instruction such as the new Professional Development Course described in this paper increases that ability. Such courses can play an important role in developing a worldwide culture of nuclear science and security. (The IAEA’s implementation guide, “Nuclear Security Culture,” Nuclear Security Series no. 7, defines security culture as “the assembly of characteristics, attitudes, and behavior of individuals, organizations, and institutions, serving as a means to support and enhance nuclear security”). The PDC described in this paper was developed by a professor specializing in scientific and technical communication, along with his students in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. They are affiliated with their university’s Institute for Nuclear Security. The PDC they developed was delivered in Accra, Ghana in April 2016, at the invitation of the African Centre for Science and International Security. The curriculum of this PDC consists of strategies for persuasive writing and for producing excellent scholarly articles. Tailored to the needs of nuclear professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa, the overarching goal of this writing workshop was for participants to increase their powers of persuasive writing in multiple genres, for multiple audiences and purposes related to their careers and missions in nuclear science and security. Similar PDC development at other institutions is quite possible and would be very welcome in worldwide education and training for nuclear science and security. In support of such developments, this paper describes not only our PDC’s curriculum, but also the professional networking and decision making that led to its creation and its delivery in Ghana.