Professional academic writing in the humanities and social sciences

While many academic papers may share similar goals, however, each discipline has unique expectations and requirements for successful writing. For example, writing for a Philosophy course can be very different than writing for English, and writing for a science class can be completely different than writing for a humanities class. First-year composition classes cannot teach students the specific expectations for every discipline—those lessons are best learned while taking classes and completing writing assignments in the many different subject areas in which students take classes.

In her book, MacDonald examines three academic sub-disciplines--infant attachment research in psychology, Colonial-era social history in sociology, and Renaissance New Historicism in literary studies--in order to identify discursive and epistemic features characteristic of “professional academic writing” in /5. This section provides resources on writing in specific disciplines, broken down into the following five general academic categories: Business & Communication, Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, and Mathematics. Get this from a library! Professional academic writing in the humanities and social sciences. [Susan MacDonald] -- In this highly original new book, Susan Peck MacDonald tackles important and often controversial contemporary questions regarding the rhetoric of inquiry, the social construction of knowledge, and.

In this highly original new book, Susan Peck MacDonald tackles important and often controversial contemporary questions regarding the rhetoric of inquiry, the social construction of knowledge, and the professionialization of the academy.

In examining the various ways professional writing reveals and constructs disciplinary knowledge, she illuminates not only the social and professional uses of academic language and jargon but also the differences in methodology, values, and ethos between the social sciences and the humanities.

MacDonald's main argument is that the academy has devoted more effort to analyzing theory and method than to analyzing its own texts.

Professional texts need further attention because they not only create but are also shaped by the knowledge that is special to each disciplinary field.

Her assumption is that knowledge making is the distinctive activity of the academy at the professional level; for that reason, it is important to examine differences in the ways the professional texts of subdisciplinary communities focus on and consolidate knowledge within their fields.

MacDonald's examination concentrates on three sample subdisciplinary fields: By tracing, over a period of two decades, how members of each field have discussed a problem in their professional discourse, MacDonald explores whether they have progressed toward a greater resolution of their problems.

In her examination of attachment research, she traces the field's progress from its theoretical origins through its discovery of a method to a point of greater conceptual elaboration and agreement. Similarly, in Colonial New England social history, MacDonald examines debates over the values of narrative and analysis and, in Renaissance New Historicism, discusses particularist tendencies and ways in which New historicist articles are organized by anecdotes and narratives.

Professional academic writing in the humanities and social sciences (Book, ) [lausannecongress2018.com]

MacDonald goes on to discuss sentence-level patterns, boldly proposing a method for examining how disciplinary differences in knowledge making are created and reflected at the sentence level.

Throughout her work, MacDonald stresses her conviction that academics need to do a better job of explaining their text-making axioms, clarifying their expectations of students at all levels, and monitoring their own professional practices.

Beyond that, students must learn not only what the conventions are but also why and how they are used to shape and communicate the knowledge of a discipline through investigation and argument. MacDonald's proposals for both textual and sentence-level analysis will help academic professionals better understand how they might improve communication within their professional communities and with their students.

This book is an invaluable resource for specialists in writing across the curriculum, as well as for other scholars, teachers, and students in the field of rhetoric and composition and individuals in the disciplines of psychology, history, and literature.

Reviews Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers.Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences Susan MacDonald No preview available - View all».

HUMANITIES

In Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Susan Peck MacDonald tackles important and often controversial contemporary questions regarding the rhetoric of inquiry, the social construction of knowledge, and the professionalization of the academy. MacDonald argues that the academy has devoted more effort to analyzing theory and method than to analyzing its own lausannecongress2018.coms: 1.

This section provides resources on writing in specific disciplines, broken down into the following five general academic categories: Business & Communication, Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences, and Mathematics. The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) offers workshops and tutoring for undergraduate and graduate students seeking to improve their skills in writing, social sciences, and humanities .

Writing in the Social Sciences Boston University offers general information about writing in Social Science courses.

Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences by Susan Peck MacDonald

Quantitative Writing and Reasoning Guide for Social Sciences projects This site defines and gives examples of quantitative writing and offers sample assignments across disciplines.

Read the full-text online edition of Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences (). Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and .