(in Polish) Academic Writing

obligatory courses

This course is designed to transition you from being a consumer of historical and classics research to independently producing and presenting your original findings in the form of a structured text. The focus is on improving your ability to obtain, select, and organise information and to communicate it clearly and critically in various written formats, using the conventions of the studied disciplines.

Academic Writing Lesson Plan – List of topics and acquired competences.

Week 1. Introduction

- Discussing the aims and methods of this course

- Establishing the objectives and expectations linked to writing an academic dissertation in Ancient History/Classics (in particular the Master’s thesis in the context of this programme)

Week 2. Types of Academic Texts

- Examining the different types and criteria of academic text formats (e.g., scholarly essay, scholarly article, public history article, conference paper, abstract, review, monograph, collaborative volume)

- Distinguishing between primary and secondary sources

- Synthesis vs. monograph

Weeks 3-4. Choosing a Research Topic

- Strategies in critical thinking

- Selecting an area of research focus and refining the dissertation topic

- Conceptualising a research question and hypothesis

- Conducting original research (tips and methods)

- Working with primary sources (importance, selection, approaches, source criticism)

- Note-taking strategies and organising research work/material

Week 5. Literature Review

- Establishing the historical and methodological framing of the research

- Building a bibliography

- What is an annotated bibliography?

- How to research the topic: library resources, databases, relevant journals, etc. (with a focus on Classics/historical resources)

- Formal structure of a literature review and organisation of the scholarship (chronology, theme, research gap, etc.)

Writing Assignment: Write an annotated bibliographic entry (150-250 words)

Weeks 6-7. Structuring Your Dissertation

- Establishing the elements of a research dissertation (structure, requirements)

- Creating an outline and organising your text

- Introduction (composition and features)

- Argumentation: constructing an effective argument and supporting it with evidence

- Conclusion (composition and features)

- Signposting

Week 8. Writing Workshop I

Recreating the outline, thesis, arguments of an article (two/three articles will be previously circulated, students will be expected to be familiar with

all of them). Discussing and comparing the various results in class.

Week 9. Technical Aspects of Academic Writing

- Footnotes/endnotes/in-text referencing (referencing styles)

- Bibliography (different styles, requirements)

- Appendix, images, tables

- Proofreading/editing methods

- Overview of digital editing and organisational tools, such as Office365, Google Docs (G-Suite), Libre Office, Open Office, non-Latin typescripts (Unicode fonts), and others

Writing Assignment: Having chosen a particular referencing style, write out bibliographic entries and footnotes in it.

Week 10. Plagiarism and How to Avoid It

- Defining and recognising ‘plagiarism’

- Understanding the concepts of ‘Intellectual Property’

- Properly incorporating quotes and the research of other scholars in our own work

Week 11. Ethics of Research and Modes of Expression

- Role of the researcher (historian/classicist/archeologist): issues of objectivity/subjectivity (bias-free language); ethical aspects of conducting and propagating research; academic vs. public history

- Who is your reader? Adapting the research and its presentation to an audience

- Using language and terminology appropriate for ancient history, archaeology, and their auxiliary sciences

Weeks 12-13. Diversity of Formats: Abstracts, Conference Papers, Articles, and Reviews

- Examining the diverse ways of engaging with and presenting your research outside of a long-form dissertation

- Structure of an abstract

- Structure of a conference paper and creating an effective accompanying presentation

- Structure of a scholarly article (features, academic journal vs. post-conference publication, publishing requirements)

- Critically engaging with the work of others in written format – the basics of writing a scholarly review (common problems, approaches, structure)

Writing Assignment: Write an abstract of an academic paper (250-300 words).

Week 14. Writing Workshop II

Focus on editing, omitting plagiarism, and critical analysis.

Week 15. Course Round-up

Selected Course Readings:

Eco, U. (2015) How to Write a Thesis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Silvia, P. J. (2019) How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing. 2 nd edn. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Storey, W. K. (2009) Writing History: A Guide for Students. 3 rd edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Attendance and class participation (3 absences are allowed in total; however, of these two will need to be made up for during office hours)

- Workshop participation

- Written assignments (homework and in-class)