Cullman Center Institute for Teachers: The Writer and the Editor

JAMES RYERSON, Instructor

This seminar, of interest to economics, social studies, and English teachers, presents a case study of the editing of a feature article in The New York Times Magazine. Before the seminar, participants will read both the first draft and the final version of the article, a profile by Stephen Mihm about the economist, Nouriel Roubini. During the morning seminar, the group will discuss why the piece was assigned, what the reporting challenges were, and how the writer and editor worked together to reshape the piece from first draft to published article. In the afternoon, participants will discuss how they handle editing their students’ work.  

James Ryerson has worked as an editor at The New York Times Op-Ed page, The New York Times Magazine, Legal Affairs, Lingua Franca, and Feed. He writes frequently about philosophy and has contributed introductory chapters to Fate, Time, and Language: An Essay on Free Will, by David Foster Wallace, and Take Care of Freedom and Truth Will Take Care of Itself: Interviews with Richard Rorty. At the Cullman Center, he is working on a book about the philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser.