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Show page 12 , Spring/Summer 2003 Publish or Perish: Challenges of Faculty Writing BY KARL MENSSEN PHOTOS BY JULIA THOMAS For anyone who teaches at the University of Utah, writing is an important part of one's job. However, the types, styles, and challenges of writing vary from one department, and one person, to another. In describing his writing, Craig Denton, a professor of communication said that his research and writing could be considered outside the norm. "My work would fall into an area that's called creative scholarship, so that my research wouldn't be the traditional kind of research that, let's say, an engineer would do, or a medical researcher, and publish in an academic journal," he said. Denton works mostly on documentaries. "Right now I'm working on a documentary on the Bear River, a photographic documentary, and so I was on leave last year to do a lot of the field work," he said. ____________ Lynn Jorde, a professor of human genetics, has done two types of writing. "I've published about 150 articles in various areas of genetic research," Jorde said. "I've also published a textbook of medical genetics." Jorde said that research articles are the main focus in his department. "Writing books is not that important," he said. Bob Goldberg, a professor of history, has written six books. He's written about the Ku Klux Klan, Jewish agrarians, American social movements, and Barry Goldwater. His most current book is about conspiracy thinking in America since World War II. Kathy McCance, a professor of nursing, has written research articles, clinical articles and textbooks. She "When it comes to publishing our research, if I didn't write I wouldn't have a job... If you don't publish, you don't get grants. If you don't get grants you don't have a job." currently has two pathophysiology textbooks in print. One is for upper division and graduate students. The other is for lower division and associate degree students. The one for upper division students is in its fourth edition. She is currently working on the third edition of the other one. "So it's like every year we're writing major revisions on one or the other of these textbooks," McCance said. As for the expectations of his writing, Jorde said the demands are numerous. "I suppose the expectations are that it would be understandable and be accurate," he said. "For the research papers, of course, it should be original and should advance the field in some way. For something like a textbook it should be clear enough, and I guess authoritative enough so that students will learn easily by it." Goldberg said he doesn't know what expectations people have of his writing. The challenges of research and writing vary from one person, and one project, to another. Denton ______________ has found that many times published research isn't very up-to-date. Therefore, he has to find and talk to specialists. Photography presents some other challenges for Denton. He has to take the weather and other factors into consideration. "I have to determine when the light would be best to render the particular situation. I have to make sure I get there at the right time," Denton said. He also has the challenge of finding people to interview. "You have to find the right people who can tell their story in an effective way and act as a good representative for other people who share those same interests," Denton said. Time is another difficulty he faces. "These sorts of things take a lot of time. They're very time-intensive. Most of my work has maybe |