Editor Panel: Public Writing Online (April 16, 2025)

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The editors of three online publications joined the Office of Public Scholarship to share best practices for pitching and writing for their audiences. This event featured:

• Dennis Hogan, editor of the Higher Education section at Public Books
• Torie Bosch, First Opinion editor at STAT News
• Rebecca Onion, senior editor at Slate

(Note: You will need to log in to Box with a wustl.edu email address to view the archived video below.)

Editor Panel: Writing for Places Journal (March 17, 2025)

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Senior Editor Frances Richard and Public Engagement Editor Jericho Rajninger of Places Journal — an online publication for public scholarship on architecture, landscape, and urbanism — join the Office of Public Scholarship for a webinar. Among other things, they provided:

• An overview of public scholarship on the built environment as Places defines it
• Information about what writing for Places is like
• Information on the benefits of the Academic Partner Network as available to individual faculty members (WashU is an academic partner of Places)

(Note: You will need to log in to Box with a wustl.edu email address to view the archived video below.)

Public Scholarship: Strategies for Amplifying Academic Publication’s Impact Beyond the Academy (May 9, 2024)

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Christopher Schaberg, director of Washington University in St. Louis’ recently-launched Program in Public Scholarship, and Liz Wolfson, PhD, the program’s media specialist, join the Association of University Presses to explore the opportunities public scholarship presents for university presses and scholars alike and effective strategies for pursuing this mode of scholarly engagement.

Editor Panel: Crossover and Academic Trade Books (April 16, 2024)

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Editors Kate Marshall (University of California Press), Cate Hodorowicz (University of North Carolina Press), and Timothy Mennel (University of Chicago Press) provide an overview of crossover and academic trade publishing, and offer suggestions for scholars considering a foray into this area of academic publishing. Key points addressed include:

• What do terms like “trade,” “academic trade,” “crossover,” and “midlist” refer to? How are they different or similar to one another?
• The importance of identifying a specific audience for your book
• Building a scholarly platform: why you should do it, and how to do it in a way that’s right for you
• The role of agents

(Note: You will need to log in to Box with a wustl.edu email address to view the archived video below.)

Writing for a Public Audience with Ian Bogost (February 8, 2024)

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The Atlantic editor and Program in Public Scholarship Co-Director Ian Bogost leads attendees through translating academic essays from across the humanities into public genre writing. Bogost provides an overview of pitching work to an editor, crafting language, line editing, and condensing complex material. This talk is for scholars looking to expand their audience and wanting to influence a broad public.