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Speakers share 'argument templates'

Feb. 6, 2009

KALAMAZOO--Drs. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein-Graff, both from the University of Illinois-Chicago, will share templates to assist writers in presenting arguments in two upcoming events on the campus of Western Michigan University.

The couple will speak on "Writing Templates for Non-robots" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, in 2028 Brown Hall, and lead a workshop, "Teaching the Naysayer Move," at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13, in 208 Bernhard Center. Both events are free and open to the public as part of the Department of English's Scholarly Speaker Series.

A professor of English and education at UIC, Graff has had an influential and varied career as cultural commentator, literary critic and educational theorist. He served as president of the Modern Language Association in 2008.

A lecturer at UIC, Birkenstein-Graff co-authored "They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing" with Graff in 2006. The textbook, currently in use in more than 800 schools, including WMU, employs "argument templates," an idea conceived by Birkenstein-Graff and developed in tandem with Graff in their co-taught writing courses.

For more information on WMU's English Scholarly Speaker Series, contact Dr. Anthony Ellis, WMU assistant professor of English, at anthony.ellis@wmich.edu or (269) 387-2606.

Media contact: Deanne Molinari, (269) 387-8400, deanne.molinari@wmich.edu

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