Course Description
Students will learn about and practice writing in different academic genres. The course will culminate with students producing a substantial literary research project, like a thesis chapter or essay submitted for publication.
Athena Title
Academic Writing
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1. Students will learn about and apply writing skills important to scholarly and professional contributions at the graduate level. 2. Students will understand the conventions of writing in different genres for different academic audiences. They will apply these principles to their own scholarly and professional writing. 3. Students will conduct research on a specialized topic of their choice and develop an argument-driven project that is supported with primary and secondary source material. They will strengthen their ability to formulate original ideas in response to independent research and to account for alternative interpretations of primary sources. 4. Students will learn to critically engage with ongoing scholarly conversations in their fields of study. 5. The course will culminate with students producing a substantial literary research project relevant to their own field of study.
Topical Outline
Readings might include: John Swales and Christine Feak, Academic Writing for Graduate Students Gregory Semenza, Graduate Study for the 21st Century Yvonne Bui, How to Write a Master’s Thesis Wendy Belcher, Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, They Say, I Say Sample Schedule of Classes • Week 1: Developing effective writing habits • Week 1.5: Understanding differences amongst genres and academic audiences • Week 2: Annotated Bibliographies: Understanding and evaluating existing scholarly sources • Week 2.5: Project Abstract and Outline: Formulating your own research project • Week 3: Journal analysis • Week 4: Writing a thesis/dissertation chapter—the process and potential pitfalls • Week 5: Articles: Writing publishable essays • Week 6-7: Workshop materials • Week 8: Conferencing: Writing an abstract and conference paper • Week 9: Workshop materials • Week 10: CV’s and humanities career paths • Week 11: Humanities grant applications • Week 12: Revision spotlight • Week 13-15: Workshop materials • Week 16: Class conference
Syllabus