Writing It!
The Podcast About Academics & Writing
We found 3 episodes of Writing It! with the tag “biography”.
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Episode 34: When Writing Becomes Like Painting
October 7th, 2024 | 43 mins 29 secs
biography, editing, jewish studies, religion, trade press
Harvard Divinity School Professor Shaul Magid began his undergraduate education as a painter. Over time, as he became an academic and a professor, Magid found that writing took the place of painting – that is, writing is his artistic and creative expression, and the thing that he’s basically always doing. We speak about how changing one’s institutions – Magid has taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Indiana University, Dartmouth, and Harvard Divinity School—has changed his writing and for whom he wants to write. We speak about the appeal of biography, the value of writing for a broader audience and why the editorial feedback can be difficult to take, but ultimately worthwhile.
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Episode 27: Turning points in our academic writing
July 1st, 2024 | 43 mins 47 secs
academic writing, biography, church history, journalism, short books, tenure & promotion
We speak with Elesha Coffman, Associate Professor of History at Baylor University about writing a book that takes its shape from turning points in history. Coffman is the author of Turning Points in American Church History: How Pivotal Events Shaped a Nation and a Faith. Baker Academic, 2024; Margaret Mead: A Twentieth-Century Faith. Spiritual Lives Series, Timothy Larsen, series editor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021; and The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. We talk about changing academic institutions and changing our writing priorities; the ways tenure and promotion requirements influence our writing; the advantages of books that allow you to “write short”; and the benefits that come with creating writing groups.
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Episode 22: Maurice Samuels on the Challenges of writing Biography
April 22nd, 2024 | 38 mins 21 secs
academic publishing, biography, dreyfus affair, editorial feedback, french history, trade press
We speak with Yale Professor Maurice Samuels about writing biography, and the importance of finding stories we feel compelled to tell. Samuels talks about finding the right writing voice; when to share writing with colleagues and friends; potential benefits and consequences of publishing with a trade press; creating a table of contents that helps readers; the importance of footnotes; and how our career stage might influence the kind of books we write.