ONLINE WORKSHOP

MAKING RESEARCH WRITE

ORGANISING MATERIALS, BUILDING ARGUMENTS, SHAPING MANUSCRIPTS

PROFESSOR GIL PASTERNAK

Photographic History Research Centre

De Montfort University, UK

Writing for scholarly publication is rarely simply a matter of “finding the right words”. For researchers in the arts and humanities, the challenge often begins much earlier: managing diverse research materials, identifying what matters, developing an argument from accumulated evidence or practice, structuring a substantial piece of writing, and subsequently revising it for an identifiable readership and publication context. These challenges can be particularly complex when more conventional archival or textual research sits alongside practice-based and creative forms of inquiry.

Designed for researchers with some experience of academic writing who wish to develop and strengthen their writing for publication and similar outputs, this three-session workshop presents writing as a process that can be planned, organised and developed through a series of purposeful stages. Rather than focusing primarily on prose style, it introduces a practical workflow for moving from research to a viable publication.

SESSION 01 | 13 JAN 2027 | 5 PM - 7 PM (UK time)

The first session focuses on building a productive research-to-writing system.

Participants consider purposeful note-taking, coding and organising research materials, while also identifying appropriate journals, publishers or other publication outlets and working backwards from their requirements.

SESSION 02 | 27 JAN 2027 | 5 PM - 7 PM (UK time)

The second session moves from materials to argument, structure and direction.

Participants learn techniques for analysing and grouping research materials, identifying themes and significance, developing arguments and sub-themes, and converting notes into purposeful passages. They will also consider tentative titles, introductions, conclusions and detailed outlines as tools for giving a developing manuscript direction.

SESSION 03 | 10 FEB 2027 | 5 PM - 7 PM (UK time)

The final session focuses on editing, readership and publication.

Participants explore practical approaches to revising a manuscript while thinking like an editor and reading like an audience member. Attention is given to clarity, relevance, coherence and argumentative force, alongside the practical realities of responding to peer-review reports, editorial comments and publication requirements.

Across the three sessions, participants will work with their own research or writing projects, applying techniques during short online activities. The workshop is therefore designed not to prescribe a single model of academic writing, but to provide adaptable tools for making the writing process more deliberate, manageable and publication-oriented.

Gil Pasternak is Professor of Photographic Cultures and Heritage at De Montfort University (UK), where he is Director of the Photographic History Research Centre and Interim Research and Innovation Director of the Institute of Arts, Design and Performance. Alongside his roles at DMU, he is Europe and UK Editor of the peer-reviewed quarterly Photography & Culture and serves as advisor to several cultural heritage archives, visual culture organisations, and government agencies, across multiple countries. His research focus explores intersections of photography, cultural heritage and political formations, with particular attention to domestic photography, community archives, migration, and cultural conflict. He edited The Handbook of Photography Studies (Routledge 2020), bringing together interdisciplinary approaches to the study of photography, and has led major national and international projects, including the European Commission-funded Digital Heritage in Cultural Conflicts and the UKRI-funded Picturing Untold Migration Experiences. His current work includes a monograph on domestic photographs and their political incorporation into digital heritage initiatives, and two forthcoming co-edited volumes on censorship and visual culture, exploring the complex reciprocal relationship between visual practices, political power, and socio-cultural transformation.