Back to selection
79366-01 - Course: Academic Writing for Master’s Students in English (2 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Andrew Shields (andrew.shields@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In this practical, hands-on course, students will share work that they have written or are in the process of writing with the instructor and the other students in the class. With examples from the students' writings (as well as anonymized examples from writings of past MA students), we will address a range of issues, from details in individual paragraphs and the flow of paragraphs to the role of sections in research papers and their overall structure. Here are some of the specific issues that might come up: • Revision of paragraphs about data (linguistic, literary, cultural, and/or scholarly) to fine-tune the presentation of the ideas in them and the relationship between types of data (primary material, secondary sources, theoretical sources). • Clear and effective introduction and presentation of data (quotations from linguistic data or primary literary sources, as well as from secondary and theoretical literature). • Editing of transitions between paragraphs for economy, focus, and precision, as well as the development of ideas from paragraph to paragraph and section to section. • Organization of ideas into sections and sections into papers, including the relationship between sections and the relationship between types of sources (primary, secondary, and theoretical). • Presentation of the central ideas in a research paper (thesis statements, introductions, conclusions) and, where necessary, the identification of the strongest ideas that can be used to organize a research paper. |
| Learning objectives | Development of advanced skills in academic writing. |
| Bibliography | The students in the course will provide material for the participants to read and discuss. |
| Weblink | ADAM |
| Admission requirements | Students interested in taking the course should be actively working on an MA seminar paper or an MA thesis that they are writing in English. The course is open only to MA students working on majors offered by the English Department of the University of Basel: MA English (Linguistics and Literary Studies), MSG Literary Studies, MSG Language and Communication. Students in other literary or linguistic fields working on papers or theses written in English should consult with the instructor about participating in the course. |
| Course application | Please sign up via services.unibas.ch. The number of participants in the course is strictly limited to 15. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 18.09.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 25.09.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 02.10.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 09.10.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 16.10.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 23.10.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 30.10.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 06.11.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 13.11.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 20.11.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 27.11.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Dies Academicus |
| Friday 04.12.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 11.12.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Friday 18.12.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Modules |
Modul: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Regular attendance and active participation. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |