I love being at Kansas State. Sure, it’s a long way to the airport, and there is no ice hockey, but those are minor inconveniences.
What I love best, other than the French professor wife, is the flexibility and independence that KState admin-types offer, while making one feel they are part of a bigger team.
It’s sorta cool.
So after a year of finding my place and where I fit in this food safety force, I’m going to start offering two courses.
Food safety reporting is offered through the department of Mass Communications and Journalism (MC 690 Section C).
Food Safety Reporting will provide students the opportunity to develop news, feature and opinion stories for a variety of media. Students will receive extensive feedback from several instructors and will have the opportunity to interact with food reporters at several national newspapers. Individual pieces will be published through the International Food Safety Network (foodsafety.ksu.edu) website, listserves and barfblog.com.
Dr. Powell has been working on and off as a journalist since 1987, when he was the editor-in-chief of the University of Guelph student newspaper, The Ontarian. He has, and continues, to write for prominent newspapers in Canada, U.S. and Australia, including the N.Y. Times, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Sydney Morning Herald. He was the Canadian news correspondent for the journal, Science, from 1990-1993.
The other is, Topics in Pathobiology: Food Safety Risk Analysis
As Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion by education."
This course is open to PhD students (DM/P 995), Masters students (DM/P 895) and undergraduates (e-mail me).
Food Safety Risk Analysis is based on the principles of risk analysis – the interwoven roles of risk assessment, management and communication – and their application to food safety, agricultural biotechnology, and food policy development. This course will aid students in developing the ability to critically examine risk issues and various stakeholder perspectives leading to appropriate and beneficial policy development.
A significant portion of the course will focus on the importance of thorough research and good communication skills, as well as the suitability of communication efforts. In addition, assignments are designed to help students increase their knowledge, understanding, and use of electronic resources. The emphasis on acquiring and critically evaluating electronic information will assist students in further developing lifelong learning skills. The course will be presented through in-class lectures, case study presentations, and Internet-based support material including text, audio and video through the extensive database underpinning the Food Safety Network web site (foodsafety.ksu.edu).
