Dr. Shyam Sharma from Stony Brook University will be speaking at various institutions in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC later this month. He will speak at Morgan State University on September 27, 2018. In his book Writing Support for International Graduate Students, the author demystifies the challenge of writing with powerful stories collected over the last several years. Using qualitative data collected from twenty universities across the US (plus data collected distantly from 15 more), Sharma describes and theorizes agency- and advocacy-driven practices, programs, and policies that are most effective in helping international students learn graduate-level writing and communication skills. It uses compelling narratives and cases to illustrate a variety of program models and support practices that fostered the students’ process of academic transition and success. Employing an ecological framework, the book seeks to advance academic conversation about how writing scholars/instructors and program administrators, as well as other academic service professionals working with this student body, can formulate policies, develop programs, and implement practices that best help these students grow as writers and scholars in their disciplines.
Dr. Sharma is a scholar and teacher of writing and rhetoric who studies academic writing and communication at the intersection of the arts and sciences. He is currently documenting how U.S. universities are facilitating the growth and success of international graduate students as writers and scholars in their disciplines and into the professions. The book is widely received in American academia. Many distinguished scholars have praised the book as making a novel contribution in the field. Below are some reviews.
“Writing Support for International GraduateStudents vividly captures the numerous challenges international graduate students are likely to encounter in the course of writing their way into the university, and provides an array of critical interventions faculty can call on to ease the transition.” – Dr. Juan C. Guerra, Universityof Washington at Seattle
“Writing Support for International Graduate Students: Enhancing Transition and Success is a must read for everyone involved in writing instruction and research, graduate program administration, and international education. Through his extensive on-the-ground research at over twenty universities, Sharma has brought to light the very best approaches to sup- porting international graduate writers while also developing a theoretical framework that highlights student agency. If taken seriously, this book will be transformative to the ways in which universities across the Unites States and beyond welcome and support international graduate students.” —Dr. Michelle Cox Director, English Language Support Office, Cornell University Past Chair, Consortium on Graduate Communication
“The book provides a nuanced and in-depth exploration of how international students learn to write and communicate, with program models, support strategies, and resources that make a real difference. The interviews and practical examples will make you rethink how your program or institution approaches international student writing development and what it means for international students to ‘find their voice’ in written assignments and verbal presentations.” —Dr. Chris R. Glass, Associate Professor, Old Dominion University
