On April 15, 2006, English Language Fellow Daniel Ginsberg, based in Kragujevac, conducted an Academic Writing Workshop for alumni of the Junior Faculty Development Program and their colleagues.

Emphasis was given to persuasive speaking, which basically contains all the main elements of academic writing. There were 12 participants of the workshop (including American Councils staff) and they were split into four groups from the very beginning. Each group had to decide upon one topic. Each group followed the rules of the writing process and speech components and implemented the principles of academic writing as Mr. Ginsberg explained them to the audience.

Participants were given four handouts: brainstorming and graphic organizers; the essentials of outlining, touching also on attention grabbers, buzz words, thesis statements, reasons, details and the conclusion; the list of transitional devices (connecting words); and citation styles.

t the end of the day, each group had to deliever their persuasive speech on the chosen topic. Daniel analysed the final speeches, pointed out strong and weak points of them, and gave advice on how to improve them. Also, all participants had the chance to comment one another's persuasive speeches.

"We know that we cannot possibly learn everything about academic writing in one day," said one alumna. "Still, this kind of seminar is very useful. We can always learn something new."