A new PWR 2 course focused on the art of dialogue has students researching the work of Stanford professors and then using this research to interview professors about their work. Students' recorded dialogues with professors and the oral presentations they developed out of these interviews will be available on Stanford iTunes in Autumn 2009.

Beginning in Spring 2009, PWR 2 students in this course arranged interviews with prominent faculty at the University in addition to interviews with Senior Fellows at the Hoover Institution. Professors interviewed included David Kelly, founder of IDEO and head of the Design School; Cherrie Moraga, playwright, poet, essayist, and Professor of Drama; Victor Hanson, Senior Hoover Fellow, classicist, and expert on the history of war; and Michael Boskin, T.M. Friedman Professor of Economics and Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers from 1989 to 1993.

Taught by PWR instructor Gabrielle Moyer, the course encourages students to build relationships with faculty early in their academic careers, in the process discovering mentors and research projects they want to continue to pursue academically and professionally. One recurrent surprise for students has been the way spoken words often modify, complicate, and add to what they've learned about the professor's research through written texts. Working from the premise that good expository writing models a good dialogue, the course has students examine the strategies of renowned documentary film makers, satirists, journalists, and philosophers in order to identify strategies for their own interviews, research, and writing.

The course will be taught in Autumn 2009 and Spring 2010.