Not sure you want to stay in academia? Think you might be able to use your skills better elsewhere? Want more stability in your chosen career?

Writing for non-academic audiences (press, websites, blogs) 

This workshop is intended for academics who would like to think about communicating their research to non-academic audiences and are wondering where to start. The workshop will focus on some typical pieces they may need to write. These include press releases, op-eds (and pitching op-eds), and press kits in case of larger projects. The goal of the workshop is to encourage PGRs to think of how they can publicise their work and why this is important. And then to give them some tools to widen their audiences and be well-prepared to write short articles, blog posts or press releases. Delivered by an ex-journalist and political cartoonist and current blog writer.

Workshop plan:

• Discussion on what is the non-academic landscape. Why is it important to the PhD community? Does it overlap with your “academic” career? Your experiences.
• Discussion on how your work is important outside of academia/universities?
• Writing for “the press”

• Press releases
• Preparing press kits
• Pitching an article or Op-Ed
• How are blogs different from opinion pieces and how to think about writing them?

• Storytelling strategies
• What we can learn from reporters in journalism, including the structure of articles and the necessary components of an opinion piece.

• Photo stories.

Design for academics 2: Application of design elements

(posters, flyers, social media etc.) 

This workshop will help participants think of applications of design concepts to materials they may need during their academic career, like posters, conference flyers, etc. The participants are encouraged to bring to the workshop any work they may have designed, like conference posters, if they would like to discuss improvements or troubleshoot any issues they have come up against. The workshop will focus on what “good” design is, acknowledging that this is subjective. It will also demonstrate how software like PowerPoint can be used to manipulate and edit images. The goal of this workshop is to create a space for open discussion about the problems faced in academia, as well as to provide a thoughtful critique. Additionally, the goal is to direct the participants towards helpful practices and resources that can make graphic design an easier task and assure them that they are entirely competent to create what they need to communicate their work, and already have the tools to do so. No prior knowledge of any design software is needed. (The workshop is the second in the series but has no pre-requisites).