George and Ann RichardsCivil War Era Center

This session will dig into why to write for the public — and how to do it. It will cover everything from the benefits of writing for the public to the process of op-ed writing, the nuts and bolts of constructing different types of op-eds, pitching editors and publicizing your work both within and outside of the academy. The session will address the differences stylistically between academic and public writing, as well as how to adapt to the new form in both op-ed and book writing. Finally, the session will explore the benefits and downsides to social media, and other elements of public scholarship as well. 

Brian Rosenwald is cofounder and senior editor of Made by History. He is author of  Talk Radio’s America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That Took Over the United States, which was published in fall 2019. He is an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also directs the Red & Blue Exchange at the SNF Paideia Program. Brian also edits books, regularly writes for the public, and appears on radio, television, and podcasts.

Kathryn Cramer Brownell is professor of history and director of the Center for American Political History, Media, and Technology (CAPT) at Purdue University. She is author of Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life (UNC Press, 2014) and 24/7Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News(Princeton University Press, 2023), which won the Eugenia M. Palmegiano Prize Award from the American Historical Association and the PROSE Award in Media and Cultural Studies from the Association of American Publishers.