I'm a PhD student, and I'd like to do more academic networking over email. How does this work, and what should the emails sound like? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 16, 2012 - 14 answers

Please help me make a plan to deal with the aftermath of this episode of severe depression. For various reasons I would really prefer not to be enrolled in college again next semester. It's long, I'm sorry, but I wrote this too quickly to pare things out. [more inside]
posted by bilabial on Nov 30, 2011 - 12 answers

I am trying to remember an elementary school book that had a teacher who gave his students an in class writing assignment about why life is worth living, but none of the students write an essay that is good enough for him, so he rides his motorcycle off a cliff the next day. [more inside]
posted by weewooweewoo on Sep 6, 2011 - 2 answers

Should I drop out? (more inside) [more inside]
posted by sideofwry on May 4, 2011 - 15 answers

Summer short course filter: Fun readings on the internet, the future, and research in the digital age for high school teachers. Help a librarian plan a syllabus! [more inside]
posted by activitystory on Apr 28, 2011 - 5 answers

Artistic mind in need of improving his academic side OR Please help me learn and write about history. [more inside]
posted by buriednexttoyou on Jan 21, 2011 - 6 answers

How do I overcome paper writing anxiety? [more inside]
posted by naoko on Nov 27, 2010 - 30 answers

How do I do a good literature review for a research paper in philosophy? I have access to good resources, but I really want to make sure that I cover everything that's been written on the topic. How can I put myself at ease while making sure I don't miss a beat? [more inside]
posted by superiorchicken on Jun 23, 2010 - 17 answers

Perhaps this is just a fantasy, but is there any application or online tool that could search through the references of an article I have saved as a PDF, in order to check whether I have those cited articles in my larger PDF library? It would be perfect if it would highlight, link, or somehow display cross-referenced relationships between all my articles. I am already familiar with many referencing/PDF organization software such as Papers (Mekentosj), Sente, and Devonthink. I suppose what I have in mind is a similar tool, but with the additional power of something like ISI Indexes. I have a fairly large library (about 300 references that I'm actively using, and more than 2000 total) and I'm just trying to get some "big-picture" grasp of how all these sources relate to one another.
posted by samac on Jun 20, 2010 - 5 answers

I'm looking for short stories/poems/creative non-fiction and the like about school, schooling, education, and/or learning to write/self-expression. Should be suitable for college freshpersons.
posted by Saxon Kane on Aug 24, 2008 - 4 answers

Academic writing filter: I am a painfully slow writer. How might I go about developing a composition process that's higher-output, requires less concentration, and is more revision-friendly? [more inside]
posted by Bardolph on Aug 8, 2008 - 13 answers

20-something INTP, bored to death in his corporate gig, asks: What should I do with my life? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 8, 2008 - 28 answers

How do I physically write faster? [more inside]
posted by ajp on Feb 18, 2008 - 21 answers

I'm a 25 year old journalism major riddled with major debt who has two years of school to go. How should I go about handling my debt situation and finishing school with the ultimate goal of becoming a successful print journalist? Furthermore, am I a fool to enter this field considering my rather unpleasant financial picture? Life advice, please. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 13, 2007 - 23 answers

If I've been out of college for twelve years, from whom do I get recommendations for graduate school? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 16, 2007 - 11 answers

is there a grammar checker out there that will check my documents for consistent tense? I have a teacher who's a real stickler, and even if I go over my paper with a fine toothed comb, I always miss one or two. Does anybody have a program I could use to save myself some points in class?
posted by gilsonal on Dec 8, 2006 - 10 answers

Do schools still make children write the same sentence over and over again as a form of punishment (ala Bart Simpson in the opening credits)? [more inside]
posted by c:\awesome on Jun 30, 2006 - 35 answers

Blogging in the classroom. I've decided to set-up a blog for my students this semester. This will be the place for their response papers, writing exercises and a few other tidbits. It needs to have access for 5-10 members, a very easy set-up, free-to-near-free pricing (although I would pay or find the dollars to fund if it was warranted), and very clear posting/linking instructions for the students. Advice on selecting a blogging system needed. [more inside]
posted by fionab on Aug 31, 2005 - 14 answers