Academic writing

For many young scientists writing is the most difficult part of research work. Poor structure, breakneck formulations and unclear argumentation lead to texts which are not too user friendly. However, for the success of academics it is essential that the content is successfully conveyed to the relevant target groups – from the subject community to the wider public. The methods and instruments of scientific writing can be learnt. With a few select mechanisms for structuring and techniques for building arguments, it becomes possible to articulate even complex data clearly and comprehensibly. Coherently built up and convincingly formulated, even academic texts can be an exciting read!
In this workshop the process of academic writing is highlighted from the first idea through the structuring and formation of the text to its completion. The participants engage with the content related, formal and organizational aspects of writing and train their text competency with exercises. The following topics are covered:

• Abstract, article, thesis: Text types and reasons for writing in academia
• From idea to text: Topic selection, structure, argumentation
• Rummaging, digging, serving it hot: Research strategies
• Writing as a process: Utilising creative bursts – avoiding blocks
• The eye reads too: Convention and form
• Academic writing: My next steps

The instructor:
Dr.-Ing. Bartlett Warren-Kretzschmar, Hanover, was born in New York and studied Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Cornell University. She has been teaching courses in landscape architecture and environmental planning at both American and German universities for the past forty years. At the Leibniz University in Hanover, she has taught and researched for 30 years. Moreover, she was a guest professor in the international Master of Landscape Architecture programme at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Bernburg and professor in the Bioregional Planning Programme at Utah State University, where she also offered courses in research skills and scientific writing, as well as communication and rhetoric.

Participants are asked to fill in an online questionnaire before the workshop.