WORKSHOPS
I have taught writing workshop for faculty and graduate students at Princeton University, Dartmouth College, and John Jay College for Criminal Justice.
I would welcome opportunities to offer workshops on public writing, dissertation-to-book development, or other related topics for faculty and/or students again in the future. Please be in touch if you’re interested!
“Writing About Religion Online: Making Scholarship Public”
Princeton University: Fall 2018 and Fall 2019
Dartmouth College, Spring 2019
How can academics share their knowledge without being either misrepresented or alienating? It’s a cliché, but at a time when anti-intellectualism is rising, accusations of fake news are sounding in all directions, and “religion” is mentioned everywhere — but too seldom treated with depth or nuance — we need experts who can share what they know. As an editor, I am not just interested in making information about religion more widely accessible, my aim is also teaching the public how to think more like religious studies students. I know from my own academic training and ongoing work with scholars, that your expertise and your methods are extremely valuable. By sharing your work more widely, you can teach readers how to ask your questions and use your tools.
Traditionally, though, the academy has not prioritized training scholars to write for non-academic audiences. So, where do we start? This will be a conversation about how emerging and established scholars can reach new audiences online. We will discuss strategies for making writing accessible and interesting to scholars in other fields, students, non-academic readers, activists, and journalists. Topics will include the popular religion publication landscape, prose style, subject choices, and social media, as well as the challenges of engaging with journalists and readers. We will also discuss the more technical aspects of building a public writing portfolio, including pitches, pay, and editing. Most of all, I want this conversation to be useful to you; please bring questions and ideas for us to discuss.
“Public Writing: Why it Matters”
John Jay College, Public Advocacy Practicum Workshop for MA students, Spring 2019
Image: Josef Albers teaching at Black Mountain College (Gloria Naylor, 1949)