Public Knowledge Toolkit Series

Stanford Public Humanities is proud to present a new suite of lunchtime Zoom learning sessions, the Public Knowledge Toolkit Series. Each event will offer Stanford scholars the opportunity to to learn about a valuable under-discussed element of how academic research and knowledge production can meet a public audience. Stanford community members (including graduate students, staff, fellows, etc.) from all disciplines are welcome to join these sessions, which will also be recorded for asynchronous viewing. Attendees are especially encouraged to bring specific questions about their own projects and concerns to the sessions.. 

Please register via the RSVP Zoom links listed alongside each event. 

To inquire further about any of these sessions, suggest a topic or speaker for a future session, or join the Public Humanities mailing list, email both Natalie Jabbar at njabbar [at] stanford.edu (njabbar[at]stanford[dot]edu) and Laura Goode at legoode [at] stanford.edu (legoode[at]stanford[dot]edu)

Fall Quarter

Pitching, Publishing, and Platform 101  

Friday October 24 
12-1:30pm
Register for Zoom Link

How do you convince an editor, agent, or gatekeeper that your idea is compelling, relevant, and deliverable? Join this Zoom session with Stanford Public Humanities’ Laura Goode to find out! Using principles from the "Pitching and Publishing in Popular Media" course and Goode’s book PITCH CRAFT: The Writer’s Guide to Getting Agented, Published, and Paid, this 90-minute session will take a holistic approach to self-presentation that includes presenting yourself with confidence, optimizing your social media and web platform, networking effectively, writing outstanding queries and pitches, avoiding the slush pile, and most importantly, persevering through the inevitable self-doubt and rejection.

Interviewing 101: How to Interview and Be Interviewed 

Friday November 14
12-1:30pm
Register for Zoom Link

What makes a juicy, revealing question? And what makes a memorable, quotable answer? Does an interview subject have to answer the question being asked? And how can both interlocutors make an interview compelling and vivid? Academics rarely receive the formal media training bestowed upon actors and politicians, yet we stand to benefit from its principles in sharing our research, garnering media citations, and promoting our books. Join this lunchtime Zoom session with Stanford Public Humanities’ Laura Goode to investigate the foundations of how to build stage presence, how to steer a public conversation, and how to maximize the value of public interviews and events.
 

Winter Quarter 

Optimizing Digital Security and Surviving Controversy w/ Moira Donegan

Thursday February 12
12-1:30 pm
Register for Zoom Link --Note:This session is for Stanford affiliates only. 

In an era of global geopolitical upheaval and unprecedented surveillance, most of us are rightly concerned for our digital security and eager to protect the privacy of our information, our exposure to bad-faith online actors, and the safety of our loved ones. Join this free lunchtime Zoom session with Stanford Public Humanities’ Laura Goode in conversation with the Clayman Institute for Gender Research’s Writer in Residence and Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan to discuss best practices in protecting your safety and information, surviving instances of virality or controversy, and building consensual online communities of support. 
 

How to Write a Trade Book Proposal

Thursday March 5
12-1:30 pm
Register for Zoom Link 
 

Many academics aspire to turn their dissertation or research into a trade book, yet the publishing mechanics of how academic research can become a popular book—how a project gains an agent, then how the author and agent most convincingly present that project to acquiring editors—are rarely part of our training. A crucial segment of this research-to-book pipeline is the book proposal, which presents a book’s core arguments alongside its most marketable elements. Join this lunchtime Zoom session with Stanford Public Humanities’ Laura Goode to learn what elements of platform and presentation comprise dynamic, effective book proposals that sell. 
 

Spring Quarter 

Storytelling for Scholars w/ Chris Colin and Anthony Ocampo 

Friday April 17
12-1:30 pm
Register for Zoom Link 

How can academics use journalistic and literary tools to translate their knowledge production into compelling content for a public audience? Research and data can be transformed by the essential elements of good storytelling, with vivid characters, immersive scenes, and stakes for the reader. Join this lunchtime Zoom session with Stanford Public Humanities’ Laura Goode in conversation with authors Anthony Ocampo (Stanford alum and author of two academic crossover books, one with SUP) and Chris Colin (journalist, author and Senior Editor in Stanford’s Office of Development) to close-read elements of storytelling and style for scholars.

Publishing Your Book with an Academic Press w/ Stanford University Press 

Friday May 15
12-1:30 pm
Register for Zoom Link 

So you want to publish your dissertation or academic research as a book. What do you do, and who do you talk to, next? What should emerging scholars know before they embark on the process of publishing a scholarly book? And how best might that book then meet both a scholarly and a public audience?  Join our final free lunchtime Zoom session of this academic year with Stanford Public Humanities' Laura Goode in conversation with Stanford University Press's Erica Wetter, Genevieve Aoki, Marcela Cristina Maxfield, and Dylan Kyung-lim White about the nuts and bolts of academic publishing.