Learning “Scholarship as Conversation” by Writing Book Reviews

The ability of undergraduate students to write for scholarly audiences is contingent upon their capacity to recognize that scholarship is a kind of conversation. For a student, writing an academic book review is a near ideal yet generally underutilized opportunity to learn this lesson. Through analysis of previously published book reviews coproduced with students, the authors identify actionable practices to transform the process of writing book reviews from an undervalued, lone activity into a viable form of undergraduate research. Publishing coauthored book reviews may aid students seeking admission to graduate school and faculty seeking promotion. In the end, writing book reviews with students is an opportunity for faculty and librarians to pass along the important lesson that scholarship is an important, inclusive conversation.