Academic Writing and Innovation. Seminar on 17 April. James Hardiman Research Building G010
Innovation is seen as a key ingredient for
success in academia, but we often take good academic writing for granted as a
crucial skill in this process. We know from the work of Peter Elbow that
writing is a creative and imaginative process, irrespective of the subject.
Janet Giltrow has argued that ‘style is meaningful’ and impacts the development
of ideas. More recently, Helen Sword has drawn attention to ‘stylish academic
writing’, arguing that ‘intellectual creativity thrives best in an atmosphere
of experimentation rather than conformity’. Yet the precise relationship
between academic writing and innovation remains to be explored; to do so means
to highlight the crucial importance of writing centres, writing instructors,
and pedagogical initiatives to academia at large.
This seminar will examine the connection
between academic writing and innovation from a variety of perspectives,
including the use of the Project Based Learning (PBL) and other innovative
methodologies, the switch from assessing to improving student writing, the role
of writing centres in academia, the ideology of writing spaces, and new ways to
support librarians on the path towards publication.
| Programme | |
11.00
|
Opening remarks |
| Cathal O’Donoghue (Dean
of Arts, NUI Galway) John Cox ( University Librarian, NUI Galway) |
|
11.15 – 12.45
|
Panel 1 Writing as a Tool for Discovery |
| Chair |
Gerry Mac
Ruairc (NUIG)
|
| Tom Deans (University of Connecticut.): Paradoxes of Writing Instruction and | |
| How They Play Out in a University Writing Center | |
| Alexander
Champoux (University of Minnesota): Ideology
and Invention in the Pedagogical Writing Space Adrian Frazier (NUI Galway : Writing Across the Curriculum, Across the Atlantic ? |
|
12.45 –
13.45 Lunch
|
|
13:45 – 15.00
|
Panel 2 New Methodologies |
Chair:
|
Monica Crump (NUIG) |
| Megan S. Jewell (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio): ‘ | |
| Innovative Outreach: Writing About Writing (WAW) Approaches in Writing
Centre Workshops for Writers in the Sciences |
|
| Steven Engel (University
of Michigan) Meaningful Choices : Using Project-based Learning to Teach Professional Writing |
|
15.00 Coffee
|
|
| 15:15 | Panel 3 Writing and Originality |
Chair
|
Kris Meen (NUIG) |
| Helen Fallon (Maynooth University) | |
| Academic Writing Librarian: An innovative way to Support Librarians
on the Path to Publication |
|
| Ann Nowak (Touro Law Center): | |
| Loglines, Ledes, Whirligigs, and Time-Steps: Tools to De-Muddle Academic Writing | |
16:15
|
Discussion Forum |
Chair
|
Sharon Flynn (CELT) |
A question and
answer forum featuring short presentations by members of NUIG staff
|
|
Trevor
Clohessy (Whitaker Institute)
|
|
Pat
Byrne (IT)
|
|
Jane
Ennis (Disability Services)
|
|
Rachel
Hilliard (Whitaker Institute)
|
|
Laura McLoughlin (
School of Languages),
|
|
Niall
McSweeney (James Hardiman Library)
|
|
Muireann O
Cinneide (English),
|
|
Simon
Warren (CELT)
|
|
17:15
|
Concluding remarks |
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