Poetry Prompts for Biologists

Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) activities that add arts to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are increasingly advocated and adopted to improve the education and creativity of STEM graduates. The central critique of STEAM pedagogy is that it treats the humanities as a supplement to enhance the sciences, and shortchanges the rigor of arts education to the detriment of students and of the field. Poetry is one of the easiest arts to incorporate into biology instruction as it requires no additional materials. It is not always easy, however, for biologists to know how to engage more rigorously with the poetry element of biology-poetry activities. Here we provide prompts for preparing biology-poetry activities, reading biology poems, and writing biology poems, supplemented with sample assignments, additional resources, and an integrative course outline. These materials are not intended to replace the deep disciplinary teaching and writing of poetry, but to expand our capacity to engage students in rigorous, reciprocal, interdisciplinary learning.