2010 EMCL ACADEMIC WRITING

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Irina A. Sekerina, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology

(College of Staten Island and CUNY Graduate Center)

E-mail:

Cell: 176-540-87223

Academic Writing is designed to assist EMCL M.S. students in the design and execution of their Master’s theses. The class consists of two parts: a group seminar and at least one (possibly two) individual 30-min meeting with the instructor between June 1 and July 8. The group component will consist of instructor presentation and group work. The instructor will cover principles of academic writing, required style, how to plan an Master’s thesis, and specific guidelines for required components (introduction, method, results, discussion, figures/tables, references, and appendices). Group work will be based on discussion and review of each participant’s work led by the instructor. The seminar requires students to support each other in all phases of writing through constructive commentary.

Requirements: reading two books on academic writing, weekly writing, reading other participants’ work and group discussion, keeping a writing log.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

/ Peg Boyle Single
Demystifying Dissertation Writing
Stylus ©2010
ISBN: 978-1-57922-313-7
Tara Gray
Publish and Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar
New Mexico State University: Teaching Academy @2005
ISBN: 0-9769302-0-X

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

DATE / TOPIC / READING / ASSIGNMENTS
2 June / Choosing a topic and an adviser / Boyle Ch.1-2
8 June / Working with the literature: Interactive reading and note taking, Citable notes / Boyle Ch. 3-4 / 1. Work 30 min a day on thesis
2. Browse through 2 theses and write a 1-paragraph impression for each
15 June / Focus statements / Boyle Ch. 5
Gray Ch. 1-6 / 1 article: interactive notes and citable notes
22 June / 1-page outline / Boyle Ch. 6 / Focus statement
29 June / M.S. thesis proposal / 1-page outline
30 June / Long outlines / Boyle Ch. 7 / Draft of M.S. thesis proposal
6 July / Writing routine; revising / Boyle Ch. 8-10
Gray Ch. 7-12 / Timetable from July to November
7 July / M.S. thesis template and formatting / APA-style / M.S. thesis template