Joining the Academic Conversation
At one time or another, we鈥檝e all asked ourselves, 鈥淲ho am I to engage with鈥攍et alone contradict鈥攖his bigwig who鈥檚 published a book for every year I鈥檝e been alive? What can I possibly contribute to this field?鈥�
Questioning ourselves is simply human; even the subject-matter experts question themselves. In fact, they probably do so more than most: questioning our thoughts and beliefs is essential to critical thinking.
The bottom line, though, is that a good idea is a good idea no matter where it comes from, and the "academic conversation" is simply an ongoing conversation to which people from all over the world and across time contribute knowledge.
They don't necessarily talk to each other in person, although sometimes they do. You don't have to have a special ID or credential to take part. Simply by participating in the conversation鈥攖alking in class, writing papers, and possibly even publishing鈥攜ou become a part of that conversation.
To that end, adapted from Dr. Zach Shore's method, our Strategic Reading infographics will help you comprehend and synthesize authors' arguments efficiently:
- Part I explains how to quickly extract an author's argument and structure from a text.
- Part II walks through the steps of critiquing a text.
Interested in a guided tour of these techniques? See the video versions of part I and part II.
For a full, NPS-specific overview of these ideas, take the next "" workshop. Workshops are offered in the first four weeks of each quarter; you can sign up during workshop season through WCOnline.
Joining the Academic Conversation Links
- Video (7:30): 鈥�,鈥� Caltech Hixon Writing Center
- Book: , 3rd ed., Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, W. W. Norton
- Book: , 3rd ed., John Swales and Christine B. Feak, University of Michigan Press
- Book: , 12th ed., H. Ramsey Fowler, Pearson
