My good friend, the writer, Hilton Obenzinger, leads such a writing program at Stanford.
In addition to indigenous folks with bad backgrounds in writing, many in graduate programs who have learned English as a second language. When it comes to writing research papers in English, much of the work needs retooling. Then there are issues like writers block, bibliographic practices, etc.
He likes the work partly because the content of what he sees is not a part of being a 'normal' English or Creative Writing major. Robotics, string theory, Balkan wars, Baja land development practices, etc., etc., provides him with much intrigue.
The ironic truism of the time is that Phd(s) - unemployable in some academic discipline of their dreams - end up contributing and enjoying work in entirely different fields.
Stephen V
http://stephenvincent.net/blog/
--- On Thu, 1/22/09, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Inverted commas and such
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 8:33 AM
One laughs and weeps, Max.
Doug
On 20-Jan-09, at 4:24 PM, Max Richards wrote:
> Quoting Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> The theory talk only bothers me when it's a substitute for
thinking.
>> No, I meant the dozens of recent dissertations I've read that
would
>> have flunked my comp classes. I've also read some good ones.
>>
>> I know a couple of people who make a good living rewriting
dissertations.
>
> Advertised here is a post:
>
> Academic Writing Specialist
>
> Macquarie University NSW ... (faculty of business and economics)
>
> 'you will provide high-level support to academic staff and research
students to
> enhance the quality of the faculty's research output. This will
involve
> developing high-quality training programs and facilitating the delivery of
these
> programs in diverse areas such as:
> grant applications
> journal submissions
> theses
> research proposals ...'
>
> amongst the requirements are 'thorough knowledge of the English
grammar system'
>
> - I guess this is open about their current needy academics.
> For all I know other faculties and other universities have long done the
same.
>
> Max
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
>
Douglas Barbour
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/
Latest books:
Continuations (with Sheila E Murphy)
http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/UAP.asp?LID=41&bookID=664
Wednesdays'
http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-from-aboveground-press_10.html
Oh, goddamnit, we forgot the silent prayer.
Dwight D, Eisenhower
[at a cabinet meeting]
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