Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
The Review

Professor, Your Writing Could Use Some Help

By Jeff Camhi October 26, 2015
Commentary-Writing
Nic McPhee / Creative Commons

How well do faculty members write for the general public? As part of a larger research project on college outreach, I sought the opinions of writing experts. The following three statements represent the range of the opinions obtained:

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

Commentary-Writing
Nic McPhee / Creative Commons

How well do faculty members write for the general public? As part of a larger research project on college outreach, I sought the opinions of writing experts. The following three statements represent the range of the opinions obtained:

  • “The authors we typically work with — academics — have difficulty writing for a trade [i.e., public] audience. To retrain them to write for a wider audience can be quite excruciating.” (editor at a major American university press)
  • “Academic writers often struggle to find the ‘trade voice.’ Though it may sound perverse to say so, most scholars know too much to write well for a trade readership.” (former editor in chief of a major American university press)
  • “The writing of most professors is just so boring.” (former editor in chief of a prominent division of Random House)

There are exceptions, of course, even great ones. But I kept hearing similar comments from experts on publishing’s front lines. Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism at the time, spoke of the need for public writing "… to develop a narrative with richly descriptive scenes, realistic dialog, and an arc that builds and resolves tension.” He continued, “Most university faculty haven’t a clue about these things. Writing for the public is a craft, and learning it takes a tremendous amount of time and hard work. It’s like learning the violin; you have to practice hard every day, and after you’ve learned it, you need to keep practicing or you lose it.”

These comments made sense to me, given how young academics typically learn to write about their field of research. They compose the Ph.D. thesis and submit it to their faculty adviser or advisers, from whom they receive critical comments for editing. Those advisers, in their time, did the same. But who among them has taken the equivalent of Lemann’s violin lessons? Who, for instance, might have taken an intensive course in the writing of creative nonfiction, and then kept practicing so as not to “lose it”?

Some academics argue that they are meant to write for other academics, not for the general public. Clearly, though, both types of writing are possible. Because faculty members are the world’s outstanding experts in a wide range of fields, surely some effort can — and should — be made to inform the world, and to do so in a manner that the world would find engaging.

Here is a simple way that a significant improvement in faculty writing for the general public could come about at any college: Develop a night course in creative nonfiction writing, specifically for professors.

Such a course might meet weekly for a period of two years — enough time to perfect the necessary writing skills. The subjects might include the writing of popular articles, books, even scripts for radio, television, and film. The best writing coming out of the course could appear weekly as a column in the campus newspaper, a local paper, or a blog. The course would be taught by faculty members already on campus, in departments of English, fine arts, writing, journalism, or communications, or by editors at a university press.

How might such courses, if offered by a number of American universities, affect academe’s outreach to the public? One might expect within just a few years a noticeable increase in the number and quality of publications sharing academic knowledge with a broad readership. By the end of a decade, the campus-to-public bridge might have become significantly strengthened. This would not only constitute a generous gift to the nation but also would very likely give back to academe in the form of increased public respect, and perhaps even public support.

Unaware whether such courses already exist, I asked faculty members in departments of English, fine arts, and writing at Cornell, Stanford, Yale, and the Universities of Iowa and North Carolina if they knew of any such program at any university. None of the 53 respondents had ever heard of such a program.

One said, “Universities tend to assume that faculty no longer need help with writing, or perhaps that no one outside their fields is qualified to provide such help.” Another wrote, “My gut instinct is that if I were to suggest that any professor of whatever discipline could benefit by having his prose improved, it would spatter all over the fan.”

Many colleges have writing centers where students, including those finishing Ph.D.s, can obtain advice and guidance. In some of these, faculty members can drop in for advice. For example, in Australia, the Writing Centre for Scholars and Researchers, at the University of Melbourne, operated by one writing instructor and one assistant, trains about 60 Ph.D.s, postdocs, and faculty members per year in writing for the public.

ADVERTISEMENT

So we know it can be done. Now we just need to get more colleges to actually do it.

Jeff Camhi is a professor emeritus of biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of A Dam in the River: Releasing the Flow of University Ideas (Algora Publications, 2013).

Correction (10/27/2015, 11 a.m.): This article originally left the impression that Nicholas Lemann is the current dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. It has been changed to indicate that Mr. Lemann is a former dean.

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Opinion Scholarship & Research
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Vector illustration of large open scissors  with several workers in seats dangling by white lines
Iced Out
Duke Administrators Accused of Bypassing Shared-Governance Process in Offering Buyouts
Illustration showing money being funnelled into the top of a microscope.
'A New Era'
Higher-Ed Associations Pitch an Alternative to Trump’s Cap on Research Funding
Illustration showing classical columns of various heights, each turning into a stack of coins
Endowment funds
The Nation’s Wealthiest Small Colleges Just Won a Big Tax Exemption
WASHINGTON, DISTICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES - 2025/04/14: A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator holding a sign with Release Mahmud Khalil written on it, stands in front of the ICE building while joining in a protest. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in front of the ICE building, demanding freedom for Mahmoud Khalil and all those targeted for speaking out against genocide in Palestine. Protesters demand an end to U.S. complicity and solidarity with the resistance in Gaza. (Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
An Anonymous Group’s List of Purported Critics of Israel Helped Steer a U.S. Crackdown on Student Activists

From The Review

John T. Scopes as he stood before the judges stand and was sentenced, July 2025.
The Review | Essay
100 Years Ago, the Scopes Monkey Trial Discovered Academic Freedom
By John K. Wilson
Vector illustration of a suited man with a pair of scissors for a tie and an American flag button on his lapel.
The Review | Opinion
A Damaging Endowment Tax Crosses the Finish Line
By Phillip Levine
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin