Writing to think: What writing in the disciplines means to Art Young Graduate Fellows
The Art Young Graduate Fellowship was formed to integrate writing throughout the University, fostering students’ confidence in a practice so often avoided.
“Writing is a part of how we think, not just within the academic setting but in society at large. It is part of how we develop arguments, work through ideas and participate in academic and professional communities,” said Professor Gugu Selela, one of the instructors of the Art Young Graduate Fellows.
Graduate students involved in the Art Young Graduate Fellowship program enroll in two semester-long courses. Their first semester teaches them how to curate a clearly understood assignment for their students, grade the assignment and provide valuable feedback that enriches the student experience. This concept is coined as “writing across the curriculum.”
Writing in the disciplines is the focus of the second semester of the Art Young Graduate Fellows course, when students turn their attention to the audience. For Selela, the goal of the course is not to force students to write at every turn, “it’s about helping students understand how knowledge gets communicated within the disciplines.” Selela brings a unique perspective, having spent time on both the student and faculty sides of the fellowship.
Many of the Art Young Graduate Fellows are international students, and all have acknowledged the difficulty of entering a new academic environment that is not conducted in their native language. Originally from South Africa, Selela recognizes, “Writing can easily become a barrier in higher education when expectations remain unspoken.”
WID emphasizes the importance of clarity for the audience. The transition from thought to written word is an obstacle for everyone, but with the support of clear goals and expectations, writers can feel confident in their ability to relay a message to an audience that may not share their context.
Homa Khakan, Art Young Graduate Fellow and industrial engineering student, now sees writing as an integral part of her research process, as it allows her to fully realize her conclusions about the data she collects. When it comes time for proposals and grant applications, her practice of writing enables her to transform the scientific jargon of her research into publicly accessible language.
Khakan is looking to her future in academia: a professor position in a world of teaching, researching and relaying knowledge.
“I’m going to be more involved in communicating with other people — a lot of decision makers, people from different areas and fields of expertise and people that have different levels of education — this semester is about that. We have to learn how to talk to them.”
As she reflects on her involvement in the Art Young Graduate Fellowship, Khakan describes it as “new.” New experiences, new perspectives and new skills that will carry her through her career.
Another fellow, Matin Tabarhoseini, describes a similar experience. In his mechanical engineering courses before his time in the fellowship, Tabarhoseini considered writing “a final step of technical work,” meant to be “accurate, precise and grammatically correct.” Throughout this semester, however, writing has taken on a whole new meaning.
Tabarhoseini has seen the value that writing brings to understanding. He consistently implements writing in assignments for his undergraduate students, offering them the workspace to explore and discuss the problem on their own and with their peers, rather than simply giving them direct instruction. This technique has already shown a significant improvement in students’ grasp of a concept and their ability to demonstrate how results support a particular design or decision. Tabarhoseini’s experience with WID has given him a whole new perspective on writing in engineering. “We don’t just report the results; we have to interpret the results.”
WID is reintroducing the power of writing across all areas of academia. The Art Young Graduate Fellows are taking what they have learned in the program and applying it to undergraduate courses across campus. As a result, the Pearce Center is fostering a student body of critical, creative writers, regardless of niche.
“One of the most valuable aspects has been the interdisciplinary community,” Tabarhoseini said. “Working with people from different fields helps me to recognize that many writing challenges are shared across the disciplines, even when the final products look different.”
By: Jordan Hill