The Thompson Writing Program promotes excellence in teaching with a focus on active learning and writing as a means of critical inquiry. It is widely acknowledged to be one of the premier academic writing programs in the country. Our instructional model is imitated and the leadership of the program are in demand as consultants for writing and general education curricula.
Critical Ink 2012
A Conference of Undergraduate Student Writing
Critical Ink is an annual multidisciplinary conference that features the best student writing and undergraduate research produced in Duke’s Thompson Writing Program. Reflecting the wide range of the program’s faculty specialties, the conference includes presentations and posters in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. This initiative from the Thompson Writing Program provides an invaluable forum for students to share their ideas with their peers and contribute to campus intellectual life. Critical Ink emulates academic conferences, including a competitive selection process and expert respondents to the various poster and panel sessions.
Held over the final weekend of the spring semester, the conference will present three major forums for exchange about writing and research. On Friday, students from Writing 20 courses in the natural sciences will present their final projects in a poster session. Saturday’s sessions will include concurrent panel presentations on a variety of topics, ranging from pirates in history to the civil rights movement. All members of the Duke community are welcome to attend any of these forums.
Critical Ink Program:
- Friday 4/20/12, 9am-4pm: Poster Sessions in the LSRC Hall of Science. Topics to include ocean acidification, primate communication, and the science of food choice.
- Friday, 4/20/12, 4:30pm: Charlotte Frost presents "How to Knit Blogs,Write Classrooms and Paint Books" in the East Duke Parlor.
- Saturday 4/21/12, 9am-5pm: Panel presentations in the East Duke Building (specific program forthcoming).
- Click here to view the schedule of this year's sessions.
- Click here to view the flyer.
Multi-Disciplinary Faculty Writing Groups
Writing is a significant part of our professional lives as faculty. We're working on articles, grant proposals, teaching statements, blogs, or op-eds. Too often, however, we don’t have opportunities to talk about the process, our struggles, or to get feedback from readers outside (or even within) our own departments. The Thompson Writing Program is sponsoring this new initiative aimed at advancing faculty writing by fostering multidisciplinary communities of writers to enhance writing productivity, collegiality, and the exchange of ideas across disciplines. Groups of 4-5 faculty from different disciplines meet regularly to share and get feedback on their own writing. The Thompson Writing Program helps organize groups and provides guidance on responding strategies and best practices for multi-disciplinary conversations about writing. A recent Duke News article highlights the features of this new initiative and the benefits for faculty: http://today.duke.edu/2012/02/writinggroup.
If you’d like to join or form a faculty writing group, please contact Jennifer Ahern-Dodson,
Duke Writes Symposium
Friday, November 4 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM Perkins Library
The Theme of this year's symposium Writing Beyond the Classroom, gives upper class students a unique opportunity to practice applying their academic writing skills to new situations beyond conventional course work. All Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors are eligible, and attendance is free of charge. For additional information about the sessions click here. The number of participants is limited so apply early! Apply by October 7. Use the online application http://twp.duke.edu/undergraduate/duke-writes-symposium