By Dave Harris Following last week’s conversation circle, I was thinking about the fear that AI may take our jobs. Professionally, as a writing coach, this struck me because fear is one of the great dangers to a writer. Personally, however, I’m not interested in using AI as a tool because I have my own ideas to explore and writing, teaching, and research all help me develop those ideas. My internal curiosity won’t disappear if some AI takes my job, nor will my need to find good ways to occupy my time. For those reasons, I will continue my work as a writing coach, teacher, and researcher. If yo ..read more

XanEdu Publishing will be presenting a three-part series of webinars on April 15, 22, and 29 from 3-4 p.m. ET tailored to the first-year student transition community and their relationship with AI, led by Dr. Jean Mandernach, Executive Director for the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching. The series will explore how to use AI to transform teaching and learning, how to foster student engagement, and introduce strategies to enhance studying through AI. Sessions include: Session 1: Unleashing the Power of AI: Transforming First-Year Teaching and Learning Session 2: Teaching with AI: S ..read more

By Angelica Ribeiro Have you ever lost track of time at work or in leisure? If so, you were in flow, a feeling you should often experience. Let me explain. In his book Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi shares that “the best moments in [your life] are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times—although such experiences can also be enjoyable […]. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” You can experience these best moments when you are in flow. According to Csikszentmihalyi, flow i ..read more

By Noelle Sterne, PhD At barbecues with friends or departmental parties with people you want to impress, you love tossing off, eyes modestly lowered, “Oh, I’m a regular columnist for Extreme Anachronisms.” But if you’ve been invited or want to start a column (or regular blog) and continue basking in such glory, realize what you’ve taken on. A quality column takes consistent effort, thought, faithfulness, and rewriting. Experienced column writers know this. From my experience writing several columns and the advice of several column writers I interviewed, here are ten of the most challenging and ..read more

TAA member Dr. Beverly Stein’s book, Unlocking Meaning in Art Song: A Singer’s Guide to Practical Analysis Using Schubert’s Songs, published by Rowman & Littlefield, is now available on Amazon. Stein, a professor in the Department of Music at California State University, Los Angeles, signed a contract for the book with Rowman & Littlefield in May 2023. She credits TAA for helping her learn about contracts, and now that the book is published, for advice on marketing her book through participation in TAA Conversation Circles and other TAA resources. Congratulations Beverly ..read more

The editors of Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments are seeking applications for two positions: Site Editor and Associate Production Editor. Review of applications will begin on April 19th. Learn more Prompt is a scholar-run, open-access, peer-reviewed online journal. It publishes academic writing assignments, accompanied by reflective essays, from all academic disciplines. Its articles bring together theory and praxis to promote better teaching of writing as well as illuminate the complexities of teaching writing in context. The journal publishes two ..read more

By J. Anomdeplume As to AI, here is the Epoxy Analogy. Wood-joiners have always required skill & patience. They use angled cuts & precise drilling to join wood for furniture and more. Then came epoxy glue. Even at the private-workshop level, not in any factory, speed of production increased. It was a parallel to the Industrial Revolution. With, say, 24 hours of set time, wood-joiners now went on to other Projects, having invested only 10 percent of their “before the advent of epoxy” time on Project One. Economy of scale blossomed. Skillful mastery of “the prompts” inside Generative Art ..read more

TAA member Steven Barkan, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Maine, published an opinion piece on CNN.com, “5 reasons why immigrants aren’t bringing higher crime, as Trump claims,” along with Michael Rocque, an associate professor and chair of sociology at Bates College. The post Busy TAA People: Steven Barkan Publishes Opinion Piece on Immigration and Crime appeared first on Abstract ..read more

TAA members Donna Battista and Tasha Egalite have been elected to the TAA Council, the association’s governing board. Their three-year terms will begin on July 1, 2024. Battista is Managing Director of Top Hat and is responsible for the strategic vision and execution of the Learning Solutions go-to-market with a focus on growing Top Hat into a leading provider of affordable and engaging courseware in key disciplines. She has 20 years of experience leading content and product development in higher education, and led the creation, development, launch and growth of the Business MyLabs, the leadin ..read more

Important to getting “unstuck” when you’re writing, is to know why you’re stuck, and to recognize how many different ideas or thoughts can contribute to being stuck, says Dave Harris, an editor and writing coach from Thought Clearing. “A lot of people have little barriers here, and little barriers there, and they pile up and add up,” he said. “Analyze your ‘stuckness’ and recognize the parts that are you being afraid, and the parts that are you not defining your project right, and the parts that are entirely outside of your ability to control but have to negotiate anyway.” Know why you’re stuc ..read more