Word from the Chair: The Writer Lives On
When I started as chair of the International Studies programme last year, I bought a brand new paper notebook. With a nice strong cover, over one hundred empty pages were waiting to be filled with a large promise of inspired notes, ideas and observations. Now, nearing the end of my first year as chair, I have indeed filled all its pages with a huge diversity of scribbles.
I wrote down important data, personal minutes of meetings but also reflections and inspirations. Writing, however, is becoming a lost art. Presently, there are serious problems with legibility of handwriting in our programme and some marking of written exams resembles the deciphering of hieroglyphs. The situation is precarious and the programme is shifting more and more to offering online examination rather than on paper. This development is, at the same time, robbing students of one of the few opportunities of working with pen and paper.
We really lose something when we do not maintain the ability to write. There is abundant evidence that writing things down has multiple beneficial effects that do not appear obvious on the surface. First, writing helps with the processing of information. The physical, tactile activity of operating a pen or pencil aids in the process of dealing with a flow of information. Surprisingly, there is evidence of both efficiency and speed; in an academic investigation, taking notes went faster and the writing was more accurate than typing.*
Second, the process of writing helps with retaining information: when you write something down, you remember it better. Third, while writing, you organize your thoughts and distinguish between important and less relevant information, creating hierarchies and strategies. Fourth, writing also involves a creative process where you start connecting things and arrive at new ideas. Fifth, and perhaps most surprisingly, writing has also larger mental health benefits.** When writing things down, this creates a psychological distance, which is beneficial for mental well-being. Writing a to-do list, for example, can cause a busy brain to calm down. Moreover, writing can also help with visualisation, those who write their goals down are more likely to achieve them.***
Despite the evidence that writing things down on paper has so many positive effects, new generations of students continue to display a very strong preference for their laptop rather than a paper notebook. Within the International Studies programme we try, and have tried, to encourage you to write. In your working environment, as we have heard back from many alumni, the ability to build up an argument and put it into words, is one of the most valuable skills that we train. Whether this is actually produced with a pen and paper or on a laptop is a moot point. Over the past few months we have been busy trying to address the challenges that ChatGPT poses for teaching this particular skill. The presence of AI is creating a new reality within which we have to operate. At the same time, we have an obligation to point students in the direction of important, even essential study skills, if not life hacks. As the Dutch saying goes ‘wie schrijft die blijft’ – ‘the writer lives on’.
**James W. Pennebaker and Joshua M. Smyth, Opening Up By Writing It Down; How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain (New York: Guilford Press 2016).