Writing Workshops
“That Almost Finished Journal Article”
(TAFJA)
An Advanced Writing Workshop for Scholars in the Social Sciences and Humanities
Recent TAFJA Workshop
Last offered at the AAA/CASCA Annual Meeting in November 2023
Dates:
Time:
Place: Toronto, Canada
Workshop open only to AAA/CASCA members attending the annual meeting in person.
Are you on the third draft of a research paper you haven’t gotten around to submitting? Avoiding revising an article for resubmission because of daunting reviewer comments?
Designed for junior professors, post-docs, advanced graduate students, and international scholars seeking publication in English-language journals, this interactive workshop provides the guidelines and feedback you need to finish and submit articles for peer review and improve your chances for timely publication.
Many junior scholars are intimidated by the peer review process or uncertain how to revise manuscripts in response to reviewers’ and journal editors’ comments. Once they’ve completed an advanced degree, they often become isolated at new institutions and no longer have mentors to advise them on new works-in-progress. The 8-hour TAFJA workshop fills in such experiential gaps by giving busy academics a chance to concentrate on an early draft of an article they are planning to (re)submit to a journal.
Facilitator Jaida Samudra guides you through a series of solo or partnered feedback exercises to help you:
identify a conceptual hook and clear point for your article
add signposts and transitions guiding readers through your argument
link qualitative or mixed-methods data logically to your analyses and discussion
generate substantive conclusions and accurate abstracts
Dr. Samudra also covers:
strategies for steady output
review and editorial processes
the structure of a well-balanced journal article
models of the component parts
integrating theoretical concepts and constructs effectively
pragmatic approaches to handling reviews
tips on minimizing words to meet journal length limits
TAFJA Workshop Kudos:
“The parts about how to engage with reviewers’ comments and structure the text were especially useful. I was finally able to tease out the US-preferred way of organizing an argument from what I was taught in a non-US educational system.”
— 2016 workshop participant
“The piece I was working on at your workshop last year has just been published in American Anthropologist. Many thanks for your helpful advice and for the extra push I needed to get this out.”
— Post-doc, Medical Anthropology, South Asian Studies
“The paper I brought to your writing course in 2018 was so improved by your support that it won the Swiss Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences award for best academic paper of 2020.”
— Researcher, Political Anthropology, Security Studies
“That Almost Finished Dissertation”
(TAFDiss)
A Writing Workshop for Doctoral Candidates
You’ve completed the coursework, passed the candidacy exam, done the research, analysed the data, and now you’re in the home stretch: writing your dissertation. This 4-hour seminar for doctoral candidates (ABDs) presents strategies for making it to the finish line. Facilitator Jaida Samudra provides guidance on transforming messy qualitative data into a coherent, linear argument and sustaining the logic of your thesis in the structure of the text.
Dr. Samudra also discusses:
steady writing for the long haul
managing different stages of dissertation development
mining earlier writing (e.g., research proposals, comprehensive exams) for the dissertation
identifying and revising segments of the dissertation for publication
Book a Workshop for Your
Professional Development Program
“That Almost Finished…” workshops provide graduate students, researchers, and faculty with enhanced writing and publishing skills that will support their entire careers. As a component of a professional development program, both the journal article and dissertation writing workshops can be customized to fit the needs of sponsoring scholarly associations or university departments.
The in-person 8-hour TAFJA workshop is usually capped at 24 participants when held in-person. This one-day or two-day intensive seminar is ideal for a scholarly conference or as part of a professional education program on campus.
The virtual TAFJA workshop, conducted over a secure video conferencing platform, can accommodate 30 to 50 participants in different time-zones. It is ideally held in 4 sessions of 2 hours each, spread over a week or month to allow participants time to work on revisions between sessions.
The 4-hour Dissertation writing workshop for graduate students is best held face-to-face on a university campus.
For more information about hiring Dr. Samudra to run a writing workshop at your university, department, or association:
More Kudos:
“Most academics learn these things through trial and error (or trial by fire). A step-by-step insight into the process, pitfalls, and strategies associated with academic publication is an invaluable addition to the training of any burgeoning academic.”
“The workshop was incredibly well-run. The advice was practical, informative, and explained in a manner that was clear and easy to implement. Participants were provided opportunities to practice applying the strategies taught. The handouts were useful in distilling the key lessons. Jaida Samudra was approachable and responsive to our needs and preferences and skillfully created a learning community. Five stars.”