ENGL 599 A: Special Studies in English

This course in professionalization for English and humanities graduate students is intended to make the academic imperative to “publish or perish” less daunting and to assist students as they begin building their career dossier. Participants will start with a substantial piece of writing—a seminar paper from a previous class, for instance—and will develop over the course of 10 weeks two potential publications: one for an academic journal and one for a venue with a non-academic readership. The instructor, Jeff Knight, will lead participants through a series of workshops, some with invited guests, and participants will gain hands-on experience in academic publishing at the journal Modern Language Quarterly, which is housed at UW. Class meetings will cover questions such as: what are the pros and cons of publishing in scholarly versus non-academic venues? How are different kinds of publications weighted in the academy? How does peer-review work and why is it so highly valued?  How can you improve the chances that your work will be accepted for publication? What should your CV look like? What conferences should you attend and when? Where are the funding opportunities and how do you position yourself for fellowships, grants, or other awards?