Tom F. Wright's Transatlantic Rhetoric as an American Studies Teaching Resource

I first read Tom F. Wright's Transatlantic Rhetoric: Speeches from the American Revolution to the Suffragettes in late summer 2020, while drafting the syllabus for a new undergraduate rhetoric course in my university's Writing major. I proposed “Writing across Cultural Differences” several years ago and had been waiting eagerly to teach it, only to find myself delivering the inaugural version over Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic. As I write this essay in December 2020, I am in the midst of syllabus-building email exchanges with a now-frequent teaching partner (Victorian literature specialist Linda Hughes), as we prepare to offer a graduate seminar in nineteenth-century transatlantic literature for the fourth time. (Our first foray into collaborative transatlanticism was in 2010.) While we plan for the upcoming class (also – sigh – being taught over Zoom), I am rereading Wright's book, this time focussed more on the “transatlantic” side of his title. A generative resource for my teaching in both these classes, Transatlantic Rhetoric enacts a global brand of American studies, modeling content and methodologies crucial to the field today. To illustrate, I will revisit some ways in which Wright's anthology is informing my pedagogy in this challenging COVID-shaped year.

A brief guide to the science and art of writing manuscripts in biomedicine

Publishing articles in international scientific journals is the primary method for the communication of validated research findings and ideas. Journal articles are commonly used as a major input for evaluations of researchers and institutions. Few articles have been published previously about the different aspects needed for writing high-quality articles. In this manuscript, we provide an updated and brief guide for the multiple dimensions needed for writing manuscripts in the health and biological sciences, from current, international and interdisciplinary perspectives and from our expertise as authors, peer reviewers and editors. We provide key suggestions for writing major sections of the manuscript (e.g. title, abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion), for submitting the manuscript and bring an overview of the peer review process and of the post-publication impact of the articles.

Roman Philosophers

In contrast to the warm sympathy of Posidonius and the vast majority of the population, the prominent Roman philosophers ranged from cool to icy in their attitudes toward divine guidance. The Epicurean Lucretius was a conscientious atheist. Cicero rejected belief in divine guidance but accepted it in practice. Seneca rejected the practice while holding on to Stoic virtues. Pliny avoided the issue and focused on nature, admitting only to a vague divinity of “mortal helping mortal.” Of these, Cicero expended the most thought and ink on the subject, writing major works on the nature of the gods, divination, and fate. He defended his role as a priest in the College of Augurs on the grounds that he was thereby upholding Roman tradition, which was essential to the state’s social and political cohesion and stability. This was simply his patriotic public duty, and he didn’t need to actually believe any of it.

Ground control to Major Tim

By now, at the time of writing, Major Tim Peake is on day 105 of his mission on the International Space Station (ISS). The main reason for his expedition is to perform a number of scientific experiments under the effect of weightlessness, as well as collecting samples from his own body for studies here on earth. He's blown into lung–function kits, collected blood, stool and urine samples, measured properties of his skin, given himself ultrasounds, conducted eye examinations and completed numerous health questionnaires, just to name a few!