Write to the Point

UF Writing Program
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Write to the Point

Hosted by the University of Florida’s Writing Program, “Write to the Point” features conversations with writing experts about the secrets to great communication. Guests on the show recognize that writing “to the point” means connecting with audiences and building knowledge bases in order to transform their communities. Available on Apple, Spotify, Audible, and Deezer. UF University Writing Program: https://writing.ufl.edu/ Questions? Contact host Tony Manganaro at amanganaro@ufl.edu

  1. FEB 13

    Getting Over Imposter’s Syndrome: The Material Dimension of Writing, Tackling Writer’s Block, and Writing Alongside AI

    In this episode, Cydney Alexis and Tony have a wide-ranging conversation about tackling writer’s block, the ways our material surroundings help define our writing processes, and how to approach chatbot use in universities today. Alexis is an Associate Professor of English at Kansas State University and has authored the following texts, among others:  –Cydney Alexis and Hannah Rule, Ed., The Material Culture of Writing, Utah State University Press, Fall 2022 –Cydney Alexis and Eric Leake, “The Stylized Portrayal of the Writing Life in Spike Jonze’s Her.” Style and the Future of Composition Studies, Edited by Star Vanguri, Brian Ray, and Paul Butler. Utah State University Press, Nov. 2020. –Cydney Alexis, ”Creative Writing is a Unique Category.” Bad Ideas about Writing. Ed. Drew M. Loewe and Cheryl E. Ball. Morgantown: West Virginia University Digital Publishing Institute (2017). This essay was published in Inside Higher Education (1/3/16) and reprinted in Slate (1/6/17)

    33 min

  2. 10/29/2024

    Communication as Key to Preventing Medical Error

    Tony interviews Amy Blue about the University of Florida’s innovative “Putting Families First,” a unique program that gathers first-year students across the health professions together to assist families (with the goal of improving the students’ interpersonal skills). Blue is the associate vice president for interprofessional education in the UF Health Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs. She is also a clinical professor in the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ Department of Environmental and Global Health.

    34 min

  3. 07/24/2024

    Making Data Meaningful: Constructing a Flight Simulator for Nurses

    In this episode, Dr. Shannon Butts (Senior Learning Designer at Elsevier) explains the fascinating science behind Elsevier’s Shadow Health simulations– an interactive learning experience for nurses. Tony and Shannon cover a range of topics within a dense conversation, as Shannon elucidates why “knowing how to communicate and understanding how language works” is critical in “making tools work that help move us forward.”

    24 min

  4. 02/24/2024

    Writing History: Storytelling in the Environmental Humanities

    Tony interviews Pulitzer-winning historian Jack E. Davis (author of W.W. Norton’s The Gulf, The Bald Eagle, and others). They discuss the creative process behind composing academic scholarship: how using a varied vocabulary and sentence structure is essential; why researching and writing simultaneously is useful; and how, in Davis’s words, letting nature “tell me how it wants to be written” is a pleasure. Davis is a distinguished professor of history at the University of Florida.

    31 min

  5. 12/05/2023

    What’s the Deal with Air Conditioning?

    Eric Dean Wilson – author of After Cooling (Simon & Schuster, 2021) – shares his journey in tackling climate range by focusing on a single molecule and telling a gripping 400-page story about America. In this conversation about the writing process, Eric and Tony discuss the merits of everyday journaling; why writing for “the public” is an unhelpful term; why writing a clear sentence is an artform in itself; how to handle feedback from peers, and more. (In addition to After Cooling, Wilson’s articles have appeared in TIME, Esquire, Orion, Tin House, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and BOMB, among other publications.)

    34 min

  6. 09/18/2023

    Writing for the U.S. Government

    In this conversation, Tony interviews Jamie Lee Marks (Senior Analyst in the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s Office of Tribal and Indigenous Peoples) about her agency’s efforts to advise the U.S. President and Congress on national preservation policy and more. Marks describes the unique challenges while writing in this realm; why ChatGPT cannot do her job; and how inspiring it is to “be around people who are working on their life’s passion in a way that helps to support the American public.”

    22 min

  7. 05/31/2023

    Pitch It: How Academics Can Find Mega Audiences for Their Research

    Want to transform your article, dissertation, or book into a text that’s actually read by tens of thousands? In this conversation, Sean Trainor advises academics on how to map one’s idea into a public venue through developing a pitch and working with editors of high-profile presses. In a world that “moves at a pace that would give many academics a panic attack,” journalism can be a tricky place for academics to wade, but the upshot is well worth it. Sean Trainor is an Assistant Instructional Professor in the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, where he teaches professional writing; his public-facing articles appear in The Atlantic, TIME, Salon, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and elsewhere.

    39 min

  8. 03/07/2023

    So You Want to Be a Doctor? Learn to Write

    Evan Maroun advises future med students about the unspoken communication rules for health professionals. He and Tony discuss challenges and tips for various forms of medical communication–from the patient interview to research papers–and explore why lucid communication is so foundational to ethical research and clinical practice.  Maroun, a UF graduate, is a first-year medical student at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Medicine, with a keen interest in anesthesiology. Feel free to contact him at: em2086@mynsu.nova.edu.

    30 min
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    Ratings & Reviews

    5
    out of 5
    2 Ratings

    About

    Hosted by the University of Florida’s Writing Program, “Write to the Point” features conversations with writing experts about the secrets to great communication. Guests on the show recognize that writing “to the point” means connecting with audiences and building knowledge bases in order to transform their communities. Available on Apple, Spotify, Audible, and Deezer. UF University Writing Program: https://writing.ufl.edu/ Questions? Contact host Tony Manganaro at amanganaro@ufl.edu

    Information

    • Creator
      UF Writing Program
    • Years Active
      2022 - 2025
    • Episodes
      13
    • Rating
      Clean
    • Copyright
      © 2022
    • Show Website
      Write to the Point

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