Academic writing for international studies

English is the working language of the PhD programme in International Studies. During the programme, students are expected to attain a high level of academic and professional competence in both written and spoken English. The overall aim of Academic Writing Instruction is to help students develop the writing and related research skills necessary not only for completing degree-related requirements, but also for becoming autonomous and productive researchers in international studies with established records of publication.

Course Objective:
The main aim of the course is to introduce first-semester students to key aspects of academic writing at the doctoral level.

Course Description:
This course examines the main characteristics and genres of academic writing in the social sciences and law. It focuses on identifying the purposes of specific types of writing, meeting the expectations of target readers, drafting and revising texts, and constructively criticising the writing of others; a substantial portion of class time is spent workshopping drafts. The course also helps develop skills such as bibliographic research and oral presentation. Other goals include familiarizing students with the process of academic book reviewing—those who have not yet published a review in an international journal are strongly encouraged to do so—and with the importance of professional standards in international research such as the avoidance of unintentional plagiarism through appropriate note-taking, quotation, and citation practices. Depending upon the needs of participants, specific topics that may be examined include strengthening thesis statements and paragraph development, syntactic problems in academic writing, and language-use choices that influence register.

Assessment:
Based on active participation in the seminars and prompt completion of assignments

For the course schedule please refer to the Calendar