2010 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring
Ramada Mall of America Minneapolis, Minnesota
June 24-26, 2010
Workshops
Thursday, June 25:
Textbook Writing 101 This 6-hour workshop will be presented by Michael D. Spiegler, Professor of Psychology, Providence College. |
How to Write When You're Not a Natural Writer This 6-hour workshop will be presented by Dr. William Waters, Assistant Professor of English, University of Houston, Downtown. |
Academic Writing & Journal Publishing Workshops: A two-part workshop on academic publishing, led by award-winning scholar and editor Dr. Robert Ginsberg. |
 Michael Spiegler |
Thursday, June 25, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Presenter: Michael D. Spiegler, Professor of Psychology, Providence College
Back and expanded to a full-day due the rave reviews from participants in this workshop at last year’s TAA conference in Las Vegas. The workshop is designed for both those who want to learn how to write their first textbook and those who have written a textbook and want to learn how to write their next textbook or revision more efficiently and effectively. It will provide you with the nuts-and-bolts of how to write a prospectus and sample chapters, how to contact
publishers, and how to negotiate a favorable contract. You'll learn the basics of the writing, revising, and production phases and get advice on how to deal with publishers, alternatives to traditional publishing, and survival skills for authors. This workshop is a based on a three-day Chautauqua Short-Course for college faculty and graduate students that Michael Spiegler teaches each year (the next one being in St. Petersburg, FL in January).
About the Presenter:
Michael D. Spiegler is a Professor of Psychology at Providence College. He has been a successful textbook and academic author for 40 years with several leading psychology textbooks, including Contemporary Behavior Therapy (5th ed.) and Personality: Strategies and Issues (8th ed.). He has presented numerous workshops on textbook writing at universities, professional conventions, and at the annual TAA conference. Michael regularly reviews manuscripts for textbook publishers and serves as a consultant/mentor to college textbook authors in diverse disciplines. He is currently writing a comprehensive Handbook for College Textbook Writing.
How to Write When You're Not a Natural Writer
Thursday, June 25, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
 Dr. William Waters |
Presenter: Dr. William Waters, Assistant Professor of English, University of Houston, Downtown
This six-hour workshop will teach and offer hands-on practice of the principle skills involved in moving research insights from your head to the page and then from the page to the publisher. Specific skills will include finding and scheduling writing time, strategies for staying on schedule, the principles and practice of fast writing, how to efficiently use serial revisions to increase professional presentation, and how to use personal style sheets to identify and repair individual or language specific (ESL) issues.
About the Presenter:
William Waters is an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown. His research and teaching interests are in writing theory and practice, the history of the English language, linguistics, and modern grammar. He is the coauthor of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation and was the managing editor of La Puerta: A Doorway into the Academy. He also has published several poems in national journals. Dr. Waters earned his Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of New Mexico and previously taught at the University of Maine; University College in Galway, Ireland; and Cheongbuk National University in Korea.
Academic Writing & Journal Publishing Workshops:
"Cut the Crap! How to Develop the Art of Academic Writing" and "How to Get Published by Scholarly Journals! Confessions of an Editor"
Thursday, June 25, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
and
Thursday, June 25, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
 Dr. Robert Ginsberg |
Presenter: Dr. Robert Ginsberg is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught for 35 years.
This two-part workshop on academic publishing, led by award-winning scholar and editor Dr. Robert Ginsberg, will expand the understanding of faculty members about their opportunities and challenges, and their rights and responsibilities, as they engage in publishing. The Workshop format includes hands-on participation, show-and-tell activity, behind-the-scenes reporting, roundtable editing, and question-and-answer sessions. Working with the participants, Dr. Ginsberg will explore the four dimensions of academic and textbook publishing: the author, the teacher, the reader, and the publisher.
Participants may take one or both of the two-hour Workshops, both of which will be held Thursday, June 25:
Thursday, June 25, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
"Cut the Crap! How to Develop the Art of Academic Writing" will cover the principles of good style: clarity, simplicity, directness; recognizing bad style in the writing of others; recognizing bad style in your writing; editing yourself to become an effective writer; unclogging your reference system; eliminating junk phrasing; activating your active voice; and learning to love the comma.
Thursday, June 25, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
"How to Get Published by Scholarly Journals! Confessions of an Editor" will cover the special function of periodicals in the academic world; finding journals appropriate for your work; the formats of journal publishing: articles, reports, book reviews, letters, special issues; the discipline of writing for periodicals: house style, revision, length limits, deadlines, final copy, abstract, offprints.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Robert Ginsberg is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught for 35 years. He is the Director of the International Center for the Arts, Humanities, and Value Inquiry. Ginsberg was the founder of the Jones and Bartlett Philosophy series of textbooks, the Social Philosophy Research Institute Book Series, the Value Inquiry Book Series, and the New Studies in Aesthetics book series. He has served as executive editor of The Journal of Value Inquiry. Over 200 volumes have appeared under his general editorship. One hundred seventy-three of his own writings have been published in five languages in nineteen countries on four continents.
Here's what past participants of Dr. Ginsberg's workshop had to say:
"Outstanding speaker. Practical advice. This workshop gave me the inspiration to try again!"
"Great presentation skills, humor was helpful. The best feature of the workshop was the seven 'easy' rules. I learned to avoid filler words, how to make style sheets and that I should own reference books."
"He brought everyone into the discussion and fielded questions well. The best feature of the workshop was the seven rules and examples. Some I knew, but others were new."
"Excellent. The best feature of the workshop was that it was applicable to my work. I learned how to 'cut the crap out' of my writing."
"Excellent. The presenter was very effective, articulate and knowledgeable. The best feature of the workshop was the interaction and samples. I learned a great deal from this workshop including 'tricks of the trade' and organizational ideas."
Tara Gray, presenter of TAA's "Publish & Flourish: Become A Prolific Scholar Worskhop," who attended a workshop by Ginsberg at New Mexico State University, had this to say about his presentation:
"Bob Ginsberg's workshop is full of practical, thoughtful advice from a prolific scholar and a journal editor of many years. He gives a lively, entertaining presentation. I recommend to you this highly interactive, informative workshop."
