For students and faculty in higher education, the policies debated in legislative chambers and public agencies are not abstract. Decisions about education funding, health care, housing, transportation, research support, and immigration shape our daily experiences, our academic paths, and the opportunities available to us after graduation. Yet student perspectives are often underrepresented in the public processes that shape these decisions.
Public advocacy through writing offers a meaningful way for all of us, especially students, to participate in these conversations. When we write to legislators or public officials, we are using specific types or genres of communication, such as letters, op-eds, public testimony, or digital communication. Each of these types or genres has its own conventions, audiences, and expectations. Being aware of these genres helps us communicate clearly and effectively within established public processes.
Storytelling plays a central role in this work. Policymakers regularly encounter data, reports, and summaries; what they hear less often are the lived experiences behind those numbers. By connecting our experiences or research to broader public concerns, storytelling provides context that makes policy impacts visible and human.
Learning how to write for public advocacy is also a form of civic engagement. It allows us to move beyond observing policy from a distance and to participate thoughtfully in public dialogue, thus using our writing as a way to contribute our voices, perspectives, and experiences to the decisions that affect our shared future.
The upcoming workshop, "Making Your Voice Count: Writing in Public Processes," creates space to practice these strategies and explore how genre awareness and storytelling can support effective, respectful participation in public decision-making. This workshop is sponsored by the Science Communication Certificate Program in the School of Graduate Studies as well as the UMB Writing Center and the Office of Student Success, Leadership, and Engagement in the Division of Student Affairs.
You can register for an in-person workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 11, or an online workshop via Zoom on Thursday, Feb. 12 — both workshops run from 12:15-1:15 p.m. EST.
Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash