Reaching a Popular Audience Workshop: Vancouver

Have you ever felt like your research could make an impact beyond the walls of your university? Have you ever wanted to reach an audience outside of academia? Academics are not journalists. The former work in a world of footnotes, where prudence and accuracy is priority; the latter have learned nothing beats a good hook, a snappy title and two sentence paragraphs. Unfortunately for the academic world, most people prefer to read the work of journalists. While we can't change the literary tastes of the general public, we can teach graduate students how to get their message to a wider audience.

That's where the workshop comes in.  Graduate students in Western Canada are invited to apply for a one-day workshop, scheduled for Friday March 26, 2010 at the University of British Columbia. At the workshop, students will be introduced to various avenues for publishing that look beyond traditional peer-reviewed journals and towards formats that are more accessible to every day Canadians. Sessions include writing newspaper "Op-Ed" pieces, pitching articles to magazines and online self-publishing.

Applications are open until February 15, 2010 to any graduate student (current, soon-to-be or recently finished) living in Western Canada. Some spaces are reserved for students studying history and funding is available to cover travel and accommodation costs for students who live outside the BC Lower Mainland and lunch and snacks will be provided.

For more information, visit the event webpage, or contact the organizers directly: Adam Crymble (acrymbl@uwo.ca) or Sean Kheraj (sean.kheraj@ubc.ca).

This workshop has been made possible by the generous support of The History Education Network, the Network in Canadian History & Environment and the University of British Columbia.