10 episodes
Write to the Point UF Writing Program
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- Education
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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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
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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.
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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.)
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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ChatGPT: Friend or Foe?
Six educators share their insight into teaching writing alongside AI. With varying attitudes–from enthusiasm to skepticism–these university teachers offer perspectives that cut beyond the obvious on facilitating the use of ChatGPT in the classroom.
0:46– Dr. Zea Miller (University of Florida) explains why ChatGPT is revolutionary and why its future role in education is so pivotal.
6:58– Dr. Edmond Y. Chang (Ohio University) contextualizes this moment in a long line of teaching with new technologies like word processessors and Wikipedia.
13:53– Dr. Lilly Campbell (Marquette University) clarifies ChatGPT’s strengths and weaknesses in writing instruction and suggests how first-year writing courses can utilize it effectively.
25:20– Dr. Emily Bald (University of Florida) frames this moment as an opportunity for instructors to question and re-assess their true educational goals when teaching writing in disciplines such as medical science.
36:38– Dr. Thomas Salem Manganaro (University of Richmond) points out ChatGPT’s failings when it comes to analyzing literature.
50:22– Dr. Reine Azzi (Lebanese American University) shares why she enthusiastically uses AI in the classroom and offers strategies for doing so productively.