‘Making sense of style in academic and professional writing’ seminar

“Making sense of style in academic and professional writing”, the next topic of discussion for Flinders’ Writing across the Curriculum and Inside the Disciplines Community of Practice, takes place this Friday.

Dr Sky Marsen will lead the interactive seminar, exploring questions of style and knowledge in academic writing.

Ms Marsen specialises in organisational and professional communication and narrative studies. Her international experience in writing across the curriculum (WAC) areas includes designing science communication training at Caltech and developing topics in the Major in Professional Communication at City University of Hong Kong.

How much presence can I have in my text? How creative can writing get and still be accepted in academic and professional contexts? How does individual ‘voice’ and ‘stance’ shape the writing of research?

These kinds of questions are often asked by academics and professionals, who work in contexts that value objectivity and transparency.

This seminar aims to explore such questions and discuss some possible answers.

Following a ‘sensemaking’ perspective (Weick 1995), academic writing is a social practice bound by the conventions and expectations of particular disciplines.

It becomes a tool for understanding the issues one writes about (writing to learn), as well as a key to membership in the academic community. These conventions and expectations, however, contain many ‘grey’ areas with regard to style.

The organisers invite participants to bring samples of academic writing they admire or avoid, and questions on academic style to discuss.

The event is open to the public and some light refreshments are provided.

When: Friday 26 August 2.30pm
Where: Studio 2, Flinders University’s Professional Services Building, Bedford Park

Posted in
Uncategorised

Leave a Reply