TARTAN: Transforming Academic wRiting in TANzania

      The first activity to be organised by the TARTAN project within its remit of “empowering early-career Tanzanian researchers in the humanities to share their work more effectively with the world” will be a first workshop called Finding Your Academic Voice: Writing with Clarity and Confidence. “Turning ideas into powerful first drafts” . The plan is to hold this 1-week workshop over the summer  at the University of Dar es Salaam. The specific dates will be announced here as soon as they are available. As stated in the project description, participants in this workshop “will develop skills in structuring arguments, choosing journals, and producing strong first drafts, supported by mentors and Tanzanian senior academics” . We will soon start calling for applicants to join this 1 st TARTAN project workshop to be held in a couple of months’ time. As shown on the screenshot below, the activity will have a discipline-specific focus and will be oriented to Early Ca...

          The British Academy-funded TARTAN project is run by a team of academics and professionals at institutions in Scotland and Tanzania. The TARTAN Principal Investigator is Milena Dobreva , Senior Lecturer in Information Behaviour at the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, ORCID 0000-0002-2579-7541 . Also from Strathclyde University is Pablo de Castro , the Open Access Advocacy Librarian at the Strathclyde Library, ORCID 0000-0001-6300-1033 . TARTAN is possible via the active involvement of Tanzanian scholars who bring local expertise, disciplinary breadth, and mentoring capacity. These participants play vital roles in the delivery and sustainability of the workshops, ensuring the programme is embedded within Tanzania’s higher education sector and aligned with local academic needs. Alexander Mikululo (University of Dar es Salaam) is a scholar with extensive experience in teaching and supporting early-car...

       The TARTAN project funded by the British Academy under its International Writing Workshop (IWW) Call 2025  is an initiative   aimed at empowering early-career Tanzanian researchers in the humanities to share their work more effectively with the world. Led by the  University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, the project consortium also includes the University of Dar es Salaam, the University of Dodoma and the  Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Academy  in the United Republic of Tanzania. While Tanzanian scholars produce valuable insights into society, culture, and history, many face barriers when trying to publish internationally. This is due to a range of factors, from a lack of training in academic writing to limited mentorship and networks. TARTAN will tackle these challenges by organising two week-long workshops, supported by mentoring in between events. Participants in these workshops will learn how to create strong arguments, navigate peer re...