Join us for the 2007 TAA Conference at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo in downtown Buffalo, NY, June 22-23

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Preliminary Conference Schedule now available
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Book Raffle
IIL Publishing, New York will raffle four books at the 2007 TAA Conference
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Coming to Buffalo? Put these two books on your reading list
City of Light by Lauren Belfer
Trip to Niagara Falls by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic)
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Mentoring Sessions
Several veteran authors have agreed to serve as mentors at the conference. Attendees will be able to sign up at the conference registration desk for 15-minute sessions with a mentor. A list of mentors will be available soon.

Roundtable Discussions Luncheon
Saturday, June 23
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Choose from 10 different moderated roundtable discussions related to textbook and academic authoring.
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Dinner at The Anchor Bar
Thursday, June 21, 6 p.m.
The restaurant where Buffalo-style wings were invented
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Buffalo, NY Waterfront Tour
Friday, June 22, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Take a guided tour of the Buffalo waterfront
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Karpeles Manuscript Musuem and Library Tour
Friday, June 22, 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
View Walt Disney illustrations and documents, among others
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Social Networking Event: A Chartered 3-hour Dinner Cruise Aboard the Grand Lady
Friday, June 22, 6:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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Four-hour Guided Tour to Niagara Falls (American side)
Saturday, June 23, 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tour full.
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Free one-on-one sessions with an authoring attorney or literary agent
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Click here for information from the 2006 TAA Convention:

• Articles
• Convention Q&A
• Convention Materials
• Photo Gallery

Archive of past conventions

Writing Outside the Academic Box: Alternatives to Articles and Books As Usual
Presenters:
David Triggle, University Professor and a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo;
Dr. Andrew Johnson, Professor of Holistic Education in the Department of Special Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato;
Jeannette Ludwig, Associate Professor of French Linguistics, University of Buffalo

Friday, June 22
10:15 - 11:15 a.m.
Preliminary conference schedule

352 Authors in Search of a Paper. Using the extreme example of a 2004 paper in Nature on the measurement of the mass of the top quark had 352 authors (listed alphabetically) for a count of approximately 100 words per author, David Triggle will discuss how multiple authorship (the norm in scientific writing) can help explain the stilted, passive and homogenized character of most articles in scientific journals. Triggle will show how articles with multiple authors can be more seamlessly and concisely written, so that they are more engaging to the general public, and not just to the scientists who might normally read scientific journals.

"As Carl Sagan famously observed," said Triggle, 'It is suicidal to have a society dependent on science and technology in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.' The challenge in writing about science is therefore not about making people understand science, but about how to make people understand the ethos and methods of science and the intrinsic limtiations and uncertainties of science, by making scholarly journal articles more readable. This is best achieved by scientists themselves who are, however, too frequently trapped in their own jargon and passive writing." Using illustrations from the scientific literature and from a course taught at UB, Triggle will attempt to illustrate the best and the worst of scientific writing for the public.

Dr. Andrew Johnson will describe how to approach academic writing from a teaching perspective. Entering a teaching mode enhances the readability of your writing. Dr. Johnson will present techniques for developing a writer's ear and strategies for getting a sense of audience by examining readers' knowledge base and predisposed ways of thinking. He will also explain how to present old ideas in new venues; that is, how to enter a teaching mode in order to describe and apply ideas outside your normal area of expertise.

Academic writing is often mired in jargon, personal spin, and fillers. While specialized terms and an indication of one's stance are appropriate, it is easy to overdo — particularly in today's linguistic environment which increasingly blurs the lines between oral and written communication. Zen approach to writing takes a hard look at context and posture toward the material; it values simplicity and directness. This presentation by Jeannette Ludwig will provide participants with a philosophy and a toolkit for saying what needs to be said...and nothing more. As the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said, "What is it that's not extra?"

About the presenters:

David Triggle is the University Professor and a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Educated in the United Kingdom and Canada with degrees in chemistry and physical chemistry, Triggle has served at Buffalo in a variety of roles including Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Dean of the Graduate School and University Provost. He is the author of over three hundred scientific papers, some 170 chapters and reviews, and the author or editor of over 40 books and has presented over 1,000 lectures worldwide. He is a frequent visitor to the Middle East, China and India where he lectures and consults in the areas of pharmaceutical science and science and public policy. The Institute for Scientific Information recognizes him as one of the 100 most cited pharmacologists worldwide. His current teaching activities include a distance learning masters program, "Science and the Public," offered through the Graduate School of Education and the Center for Inquiry and courses in research ethics and philosophy.

Dr. Andrew Johnson is Professor of Holistic Education in the Department of Special Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Johnson specializes in literacy instruction, holistic education, and educational psychology. His most recent books include Making Connections with Elementary and Middle School Social Studies published by Sage Publications, A Short Guide to Action Research (3rd ed.) by Allyn and Bacon, and The Inner Curriculum: Classroom Activities to Develop Emotional Intelligence published by Royal Fireworks Press. For comments or information related to workshops and professional development opportunities go to: www.teachergrowth.com.

Jeannette Ludwig is Associate Professor of French Linguistics at the University at Buffalo, where she supervises Teaching Assistants and teaches courses in grammar, translation, and linguistics. More recently, as a result of her theological studies and Zen practice, she has been asked to teach undergraduate courses in comparative Asian religions.

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