Orientation Interview – Dr Sophia Waters
UNE alumnus Dr Sophia Waters was very enthusiastic about joining Ben and Kim in the studio, and we were absolutely ecstatic! We were only too happy to oblige, and she took us through her academic history, her passions outside of the University, and her professional research interests. She also gave us a quick little tip in regards to the gross misuse of the simple semi-colon!
Dr Waters has a keen eye and passion for writing; graduating from right here at UNE with a Bachelor of Languages (French and Italian) as well as a Bachelor of Arts (French) with First Class Honours, and a PhD in Linguistics. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications; presented several conference papers, authored multiple book chapters and even co-edited a book in 2017 alongside Carsten Levisen. This impressive bibliography is hardly surprising when you consider her passion for language. She has an extensive background of writing, linguistics, and French; and her areas of research focus on discourse studies, semantics and pragmatics using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach. Discussing her history and her research passions was an absolute pleasure for both Kim and Ben, and we feel exceptionally comfortable in stating that studying her first-year unit would be an unforgettable experience!
One of the most important units for a first-year student to study would be WRIT101 – The Craft of Academic Writing. It provides students with an essential grasp of ways to improve their writing from an academic standpoint – a crucial skill for every degree! Both Dr Sophia Waters and our two enraptured announcers concurred very quickly that every student here at UNE should study this unit to fine-tune their essay and report writing. If you would like to learn more about this unit or are considering studying it, you can find out more here.
This interview is part of a series of Orientation Interviews, designed to make first-year students feel more at ease and reassured about what they can expect at UNE. Starting out at University can be highly overwhelming and we want to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that students feel as comfortable as possible.
Dr Sophia Waters implored every student who may have misgivings about studying in her classes to contact her with any questions, concerns, or queries they may have. Remember, if you have a question about the learning material, it’s likely that many others are wondering the same thing! Dr Waters can be found on Moodle and can be contacted via email at swaters4@une.edu.au, or by phone on 02 6773 3318. You can learn more about her passions, academic history, research interests, and bibliography by visiting the link here.
We want to thank Dr Waters for this fascinating and extensive discussion about her teaching and her history, and we would welcome her back anytime!
