WHY IS ACADEMIC WRITING SO ACADEMIC?

Re-post of an article by Joshua Rothman in the The New Yorker

A few years ago, when I was a graduate student in English, I presented a paper at my department’s American Literature Colloquium. (A colloquium is a sort of writing workshop for graduate students.) The essay was about Thomas Kuhn, the historian of science. Kuhn had coined the term “paradigm shift,” and I described how this phrase had been used and abused, much to Kuhn’s dismay, by postmodern insurrectionists and nonsensical self-help gurus. People seemed to like the essay, but they were also uneasy about it. “I don’t think you’ll be able to publish this in an academic journal,” someone said. He thought it was more like something you’d read in a magazine.

Was that a compliment, a dismissal, or both?

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The Needless Complexity of Academic Writing

A new movement strives for simplicity.

Re-post of an article in The Atlantic by Victoria Clayton

The idea that writing should be clear, concise, and low-jargon isn’t a new one—and it isn’t limited to government agencies, of course. The problem of needlessly complex writing—sometimes referred to as an “opaque writing style”—has been explored in fields ranging from law to science. Yet in academia, unwieldy writing has become something of a protected tradition. Take this example:

The work of the text is to literalize the signifiers of the first encounter, dismantling the ideal as an idol. In this literalization, the idolatrous deception of the first moment becomes readable. The ideal will reveal itself to be an idol. Step by step, the ideal is pursued by a devouring doppelganger, tearing apart all transcendence. This de-idealization follows the path of reification, or, to invoke Augustine, the path of carnalization of the spiritual. Rhetorically, this is effected through literalization. A Sentimental Education does little more than elaborate the progressive literalization of the Annunciation.

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Passive Resistance

The active voice isn’t always the best choice.

Re-post of an article in The Atlantic by Steven Pinker

The passive voice has long been dismissed as a hallmark of turgid prose. “Many a tame sentence,” wrote Strunk and White in The Elements of Style, “can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is, or could be heard.” George Orwell, in “Politics and the English Language,” agreed: among the “tricks by means of which the work of prose construction is habitually dodged” is that “the passive voice is wherever possible used in preference to the active.”

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21st July 2016

Practice as Research - Literature

• Visualizing Research: A Guide To The Research Process In Art And Design

• Authors - Carole Gray, Julian Malins
• Publisher - Ashgate Pub Ltd
• ISBN - 9780754635772
• Date - December 31, 2004

• Abstract
Visualizing Research guides postgraduate students in art and design through the development and implementation of a research project, using the metaphor of a 'journey of exploration'. For use with a formal programme of study, from masters to doctoral level, the book derives from the creative relationship between research, practice and teaching in art and design. It extends generic research processes into practice-based approaches more relevant to artists and designers, introducing wherever possible visual, interactive and collaborative methods. The Introduction and Chapter 1 'Planning the Journey' define the concept and value of 'practice-based' formal research, tracking the debate around its development and explaining key concepts and terminology. 'Mapping the Terrain' then describes methods of contextualizing research in art and design (the contextual review, using reference material); 'Locating Your Position' and 'Crossing the Terrain' guide the reader through the stages of identifying an appropriate research question and methodological approach, writing the proposal and managing research information. Methods of evaluation and analysis are explored, and finally strategies for reporting and communicating research findings are suggested. Appendices and a glossary are also included. Visualizing Research draws on the experience of researchers in different contexts and includes case studies of real projects. Although written primarily for postgraduate students, research supervisors, managers and academic staff in art and design and related areas, such as architecture and media studies, will find this a valuable research reference. An accompanying website www.visualizingresearch.info includes multimedia and other resources that complement the book.

PDF Link 

ARTFUL LEARNING® stimulates and deepens academic learning through the arts

Link: https://leonardbernstein.com/artful-learning



Artful Learning is a transformational learning model that empowers educators to use the arts and the artistic process to awaken and sustain the love of learning for all students. Based on over twenty years of intensive collaboration and refinement, field research and implementation with leading educators, researchers and practitioners of the model, the Artful Learning Sequence and Model is a framework that educators can use to revitalize their curriculum and their teaching practice.

Grounded in the artistic process, this extensive, research-proven professional development program gives educators the tools to apply the Artful Learning methodology over a three-year implementation process, ultimately building a sustainable, thriving learning community.

Initiated by American music icon Leonard Bernstein and realized by thousands of people around the nation, Artful Learning is changing the landscape of teaching and learning. Bernstein's vision was to use music and the other visual and performing arts as a means of instilling a lifelong love of learning in students. Artful Learning embeds the arts within the learning process through a carefully researched, concept-based, interdisciplinary model that has proven to increase comprehension in students as well as improve academic achievement.

https://vimeo.com/196328075

The Artful Learning Model (narrated by Alexander Bernstein) from The Leonard Bernstein Office on Vimeo.

What is Critical Thinking

When I started my BA in Fine Art the subject area I found interesting but baffling was Critical Studies. No one really explained to me what CS was about, to me it was a mix of contextual studies and art history with a bit of philosophy thrown in. No one really explained that it was all about Critical Thinking but what is Critical Thinking?

Here is one definition:-
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following: understand the logical connections between ideas. Link

And another:-

Critical thinking is the process we use to reflect on, access and judge the assumptions underlying our own and others ideas and actions. Link

Ok, that's the what and the why how about the how? As is so often my experience in education you are told what and why but never how. How do you think reflectively and independently?

Well a BA, an MA and half a PhD further down the learning road I think I may have found the answer: Socratic Questioning!

What is Socratic Questioning? To answer the question the best place to start is my favourite PhD mentoring Blog, The Thesis Whisperer where Dr Inger Mewburn, Director of research training at the Australian National University, doles out words of wisdom and support for flagging PhD students. Link

Zotero Support: How to back up your Zotero library

I nearly had a heart attack this morning when I thought I had lost my Zotero database after resetting Firefox to its default settings. However fortunately it synced to the online backup and all was well but it made me realise that it was a long time since I had done a local backup. Here is a useful link from the Zotero website to guide you through the process of making a  backup.

This link is taken from the Zotero website, click the link or the image to go directly to the page...

1. To back up your Zotero library you will need to locate the Zotero data directory where your Zotero data is stored on your computer. To do this click on the actions button (gear icon) in the Zotero toolbar and select preferences: