The Academic Writing Workshop aims to provide students with useful tools for organizing a text. The course content is geared toward developing the skills needed to write scientific articles, research papers, newspaper articles, press releases, and theses.    

The course focuses on academic skills and the fundamentals of academic writing. The goal is to enhance the impact of students' writing by providing them with both the theoretical knowledge and the practical skills needed to produce high-quality texts. 

Specifically, students will have the opportunity to practice critical reading and writing by summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing ideas.

A key goal of the course is to equip students with more impactful communication skills, particularly in storytelling, by developing their own narrative style for presentations, interviews, speeches, negotiations, debates, meetings, and written communications. There will be a strong focus on shaping one's individual expression in both oral and written communication, with a particular emphasis on the chosen work environment.

The course will also combine narrative theory with writing exercises to explore the art of storytelling in its various forms. 

Expected course outcomes 

By the end of the course, students should demonstrate greater confidence and precision in both oral and written settings. This should result from developing storytelling skills, oral and written expression, and greater language proficiency (especially for the English course), including vocabulary, idioms, neologisms, compound forms, phrasal verbal expressions, and specialized terms. Students will also reduce errors, enhance critical analysis, become more adept at using high-quality formal language, improve pronunciation (more natural rhythm, body language, voice clarity, and a clearer tone and intonation), increase speed, and enhance translation skills.

In terms of academic writing, students will gain the ability to: critically engage with readings, considering the various contexts (social, contemporary, or personal) that surround and support each text; recognize the stylistic conventions of academic writing; effectively summarize and analyze various texts, identifying and highlighting key ideas and messages; develop independent perspectives and arguments supported by research; and strengthen the revision skills needed to complete a writing project. 

General rules

• The course lasts a total of 30 hours, and students will also be required to work on assigned project work.   To earn University Credits, students must attend 80% of the total hours, which amounts to 24 hours (thus, a maximum of 6 hours of absence is allowed), and the instructor must deem them eligible for the final assessment.

• A tutor will be responsible for recording attendance, which will be done by signing a register. Failure to sign in and/or out will be considered an absence. There will be no exceptions to the sole criterion for awarding university credits: attendance.

• Absence hours will be calculated based on the attendance records. Depending on the schedule or personal needs, students can take a full day off or miss individual hours across multiple lessons.

• Once a student has chosen their course, they will not be able to earn University Credits through any other means.

• Students who have already earned the University Credits required by their curriculum for Other Activities, or who have already started attending optional language courses or other activities for which credits are recognized, are excluded.

Additional information

• The course will take place during the first semester.

• The course will be offered in both Italian and English.

• <p class="text-align-justify"> All activities will take place on Friday afternoons and Saturdays (not necessarily every weekend). The 8-hour class days (from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM) include a lunch break from approximately 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, which is not counted toward the total hours.

The activity calendar will be available in September.

Registration

Students enrolled in the second year (academic year 2026-2027) of one of the Bachelor's Degree programs in the Departments of Economics and Management, Economics and Business, Management and Artificial Intelligence, Business Administration, or Global Law, or in the third year (academic year 2026-2027) of the Single-Cycle Master's Degree program in Law, can select the Soft Skills course they wish to take to earn credits directly through the Web Self Service while completing their study plan.

For more information, please email: softskills@luiss.it