Short Abstract:

English and STS as Second Languages (ESL and STSSL), and especially the crossover of both, present challenges for writing and publishing in STS. This workshop seeks to address these intersectional barriers in a hands-on, participatory environment. Bring your works in progress!

Long Abstract:

Writing and publishing in STS still remains exclusionary. Recent studies on author demographics in the field (Invernizzi et al., 2022) reveals the dominance of English as the lingua franca, presenting considerable obstacles for non-native speakers. Further, despite STS's aim to transcend disciplinary boundaries in knowledge production, the field is predominantly shaped by a few specialties, such as sociology, history, and anthropology. Scholars from outside these fields frequently encounter challenges in mastering STS's specialized concepts and terminology.

Inspired by the conference's theme “advocating for transformation,” and in response to the prevailing challenges, we propose a workshop addressing two specific challenges: writing in English as a Second Language (ESL) or from disciplines outside of STS, such as physics and engineering, an experience we term "STS as a Second Language" (STSSL). This workshop is designed for graduate students and young scholars who are either ESL or STSSL and interested in learning about and reworking their writing processes and articles for publication.

The workshop is designed in two 90 minute sessions, with one focussed on ESL and one on STSSL. Participants may attend individual sessions, or ideally, both. The ESL and STSSL sessions are identical in structure. Initially, a 30-minute segment will address key challenges associated with either ESL and STSSL, alongside strategies to enhance the writing process. Following this, we offer workshopping sessions to concretely examine works in progress. Participants will be grouped to ensure each one benefits from detailed feedback on their paper's writing and content through expert-led peer discussion dedicated to their work. This format necessitates that attendees pre-register and submit their papers in advance. Feedback will be given within the workshopping session. We aim for a total of approximately 25 participants (maximum 15 in each 90 minute session).