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Write Like You Teach

A Workshop on Public Writing for Academics, Teachers, and Experts, with James M. Lang, Ph.D.

Dates: August 7 - 13, 2026
Applications Close: July 7, 2026

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Are you an academic, teacher, or expert with research and ideas that deserve to find a wider audience? Would you like to break the barrier between writing for specialized audiences and writing for more public audiences?

This seminar addresses two core professional challenges:

  1. Teaching More Effectively: Learn research-backed strategies to improve student learning and engagement
  2. Writing for Broader Audiences: Develop skills to communicate expertise beyond academic specialists

This week-long workshop will help you achieve those goals by showing you how to draw upon your hard-won wisdom as a teacher to create better learning experiences for your nonfiction readers. This approach draws lessons from Jim Lang's new book, Write Like You Teach, in which he argues that "the research on human learning can inform our approach to nonfiction writing". He developed this approach partly from his many books and essays on teaching and learning writing for broad audiences, as well as his work as a book series acquisition editor helping dozens of published authors translate their expertise for readers across many fields.

Programme Fee

$2,500 (USD)

Fee Includes:

  • Accommodation in a newly renovated, high-standard private ensuite room with a stunning view of Pollacappul Lake glimmering in the surrounding mountains.
    • Each room is equipped with a writing desk, and residents will have access to the libraries and social spaces, including our iconic Naughton Commons on the top floor.
  • Full board is provided, featuring a hot or continental breakfast, as well as Irish-inspired lunches and dinners.
    • Meals are designed and prepared by our in-house award-winning chef, Mikel Redondo.
  • Opportunities to explore and experience woodland and lakeshore walks, magnificent buildings, and Ireland’s largest Walled Garden.
  • Participants are welcome to join the Kylemore Abbey Benedictine Community in prayer, which is held 3 times a day (Morning Prayer, Mass, and Vespers) in the Monastic Chapel on site.

Airport Transportation

An airport shuttle will be arranged from Dublin to Kylemore and back, with a nominal cost of 50 euros per person.

About James Lang

James Lang. A smiling middle-aged bald man wears a dark blue blazer over a red, blue, and white plaid shirt, against a light gray background.

James M. Lang, Ph.D., is a Professor of Practice at the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Notre Dame. He has authored seven books, the most recent of which are Write Like You Teach: Taking Your Classroom Skills to a Bigger Audience (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020), Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning, 2nd ed. (Jossey-Bass, 2021). He also holds the title of Emeritus Professor of English at Assumption University, where he taught courses in English literature for two decades, as well as founding and directing the university’s teaching center. He writes a regular column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education; his work has been appearing in the Chronicle since 1999. His book reviews and public scholarship on higher education have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Times Higher Education. He founded a popular book series on teaching and learning in higher education for West Virginia University Press, and currently co-edits the Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed series with Michelle Miller for Oklahoma University Press.