As part of the MA in Global African Studies program’s commitment to developing students’ academic and research skills, a foundational writing workshop was held online on May 8, 2025. The session focused on key aspects of academic writing, with particular attention to the challenges of formulating abstracts and thesis proposals.
Led by Professor Carli Coetzee, the two-hour workshop provided students with practical guidance on structuring their dissertations, articulating research questions, identifying disciplinary contributions, and refining bibliographies. The session also offered strategies for managing writing timelines and avoiding common pitfalls in academic argumentation.
Professor Coetzee is a leading scholar in African literature and African popular cultural studies. She currently serves as a research associate at the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, and is the long-time editor of the Journal of African Cultural Studies. Her award-winning monograph Written Under the Skin: Blood and Intergenerational Memory in South Africa received the African Literature Association’s prize for best scholarly book.
In preparation for the workshop, students submitted a 300-word abstract and a set of writing-related questions. These submissions formed the basis of discussion during the interactive session, which encouraged students to reflect critically on their research topics and scholarly positioning.
The writing workshop is part of a broader effort to equip MA students with the skills necessary for producing rigorous, original research in the field of Global African Studies.
As part of the MA in Global African Studies program’s commitment to developing students’ academic and research skills, a foundational writing workshop was held online on May 8, 2025. The session focused on key aspects of academic writing, with particular attention to the challenges of formulating abstracts and thesis proposals.
As part of the MA in Global African Studies program’s commitment to developing students’ academic and research skills, a foundational writing workshop was held online on May 8, 2025. The session focused on key aspects of academic writing, with particular attention to the challenges of formulating abstracts and thesis proposals.
Led by Professor Carli Coetzee, the two-hour workshop provided students with practical guidance on structuring their dissertations, articulating research questions, identifying disciplinary contributions, and refining bibliographies. The session also offered strategies for managing writing timelines and avoiding common pitfalls in academic argumentation.
Professor Coetzee is a leading scholar in African literature and African popular cultural studies. She currently serves as a research associate at the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, and is the long-time editor of the Journal of African Cultural Studies. Her award-winning monograph Written Under the Skin: Blood and Intergenerational Memory in South Africa received the African Literature Association’s prize for best scholarly book.
In preparation for the workshop, students submitted a 300-word abstract and a set of writing-related questions. These submissions formed the basis of discussion during the interactive session, which encouraged students to reflect critically on their research topics and scholarly positioning.
The writing workshop is part of a broader effort to equip MA students with the skills necessary for producing rigorous, original research in the field of Global African Studies.
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