| Resume
William E. Barnett, Ph.D.
Current Occupation:
WordCraft Editing & Writing Services, providing professional editorial and related services for writers: In-depth, comprehensive content editing, copy editing, proofreading, transcription from audio and print sources, electronic file creation and management, research/fact checking and noncommercial copy writing.
Professional Goals:
The goal of my editorial business, in offering my services to writers in both academic and non-academic settings, is to apply the skills developed over my career (which has included 15 years of college-level writing instruction in philosophy and two and a half years working as astronomer Carl Sagan’s personal editorial assistant) to help writers write more effectively, indeed to elevate their writing to equal the highest standards within their chosen fields or environments. I strive not only to improve my clients’ manuscripts, but to help them become better writers for the long term.
Education:
Cornell University, 1976-86; Philosophy: M.A., May 1981; Ph.D., June 1986.
Cornell University, 1973-5; Africana Studies: no degree.
Northwestern University, 1969-73; African-American History: B.A., June 1973.
Skills:
Knowledgeable and timely editing services from document/file management to proofreading to in-depth editorial consulting, all available online; fast, accurate tape transcription from regular or micro cassettes; research (library/scholarly and Internet); writing/rewriting. Also specializing in philosophical analysis/consulting, logical analysis of argumentation or persuasive writing. Highly skilled and experienced in using Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. Professional-quality expertise in English grammar, style and usage. Familiar with Chicago Manual of Style, Words Into Type, Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (A.K.A. APA Style), MLA Style Manual.
Professional Organizations:
American Philosophical Association (ongoing)
Editorial Freelancers Association (ongoing)
Awards:
Cornell University:
John S. Knight Writing Program, Writing Assignment Sequence Award (a university-wide competition among Freshman Writing Seminar instructors with a cash award), Fall 1994
Cornell Summer Fellowship, 1979
Experience:
Freelance work by WordCraft, Fall 1997-present: I worked on the following projects or jobs in 2002— • Completed first phase of editing a book entitled The Fittest Idea, an attempt to sketch a theory of mind and consciousness that combines the author’s experience in theater with his interests in brain science, philosophy of mind, and human nature; the concept of a genetic algorithm is the key to the theory; copy edited entire MS, reorganized chapters, working with author to improve thematic integration. • Provided ongoing comprehensive editing services to a professor of hospitality management at Cornell University’s Statler School of Hotel Management (considered by many to be the premier program in the world) whose textbook I edited in 2001 (Onsite Foodservice Management: A Best Practices Approach; New York: Wiley, 2003). The work included 7 scholarly papers, a CD-ROM interactive program, and the professor’s statement of teaching philosophy. • Provided similar services another Cornell hotel management professor (marketing is his area of specialization), including the adaptation of a scholarly article for publication in the Cornell Quarterly, a trade journal for hospitality management issues, and two other articles. • Edited a total of 21 scholarly papers in economics (especially the Korean economy), hospitality management (several topics), tax policy, sociology (Korea), organizational studies, cultural history, etc. • Proofread case studies and teaching notes for use in hospitality management graduate courses at Cornell University • Edited nine doctoral dissertations (seven at Cornell University, one at Case Western Reserve University, one at Northern Illinois University); these and masters degree clients came from the following linguistic backgrounds/nationalities: American (2), Brazilian (1), Chinese (1), French (1), Korean (several), Egyptian(1), Japanese (2). Topics or fields included economics (estimation of dynamic behavior in the DRAM industry, new industrial organization theory, economy of the Mexican state of Aguascalientes, and offer behavior on the California electricity market), architecture and urban planning (New Urbanism), organizational behavior, transformational change through life coaching, and sociology (Internet usage by nonprofit organizations). • Edited four master theses (all at Cornell University); topics or fields included Black studies (media images of Black women), women’s studies (race, class, and feminist theory), history of religions (Rastafarianism), and hospitality management (the economic impact of terrorism on tourism). • Resumed work on a book, Natural Intelligent Action, written by a retired science teacher, education scholar, and published author in Canada, who calls for a better understanding of students’ natural scientific intuitions and a more realistic appreciation of their capacity for rational autonomy; the book is deeply informed by philosophical scholarship, and I have consulted with the client on the philosophy of Wittgenstein, Aristotle, Kant, Davidson, et al.; also, I have provided comprehensive editorial assistance throughout the project (years in the making) and will copy edit the MS in 2003 with a view to publication. • Performed more than 375 hours of tape transcription for four clients: (1) a freelance writer under contract with SAP software—the client interviews corporations and organizations that have implemented SAP software, from full ERP suites to specialty applications to e-business; this has familiarized me with terms and business practices of IT departments on a global basis (since 1998); this client also writes occasional freelance articles on machine tooling and machine tool technology/software; (2) a visiting lecturer at Cornell (home institution: Arizona State University); topic: critical services development at major electronics corporations (e.g., Hewlett-Packard, Compaq); (3) a graduate student at Cornell researching the experiences of Latino students; (4) a graduate student in architecture at Cornell. • Other miscellaneous work included a variety of proofreading/editing assignments for a professor of urban planning at Lawrence Technological University in Detroit (affiliated with the University of Michigan) whose dissertation I edited, including course syllabi, abstracts, a biographical sketch, a survey, and a grant proposal; scholarship and fellowship applications and a resumé; editing and formatting a bibliography; editing a business case for a restaurant. I worked on the following projects or jobs in 2001—
• Editing a textbook written by a professor of hospitality management at Cornell University’s Statler School of Hotel Management (considered by many to be the premier program in the world)—the MS is currently at the publishers, with follow-up work to come.
• Transcribing interviews, providing comprehensive editing and copy writing for another Cornell hotel management professor who was hired as a consultant to produce a report on a hotel facility at The Ohio State University—I edited the report and wrote the executive summary.
• Copy editing a MS in Eastern philosophy (comparing the thought of Confucius and Mencius) written by a philosophy professor at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
• Editorial/philosophical consulting—I evaluated a 120,000-word MS with considerable philosophical content (metaphysics, infinity, multi-dimensionality).
• Editorial consulting/comprehensive editing of a 140,000-word MS combining the author’s interest in theater, philosophy of mind, brain science and human nature; the editorial evaluation is complete, with in-depth editing soon to commence.
• Edited or proofread 15 doctoral dissertations and 8 masters theses for students at Cornell University (except for two at Case Western Reserve University); also various papers, book reviews, cover letters, etc. These clients came from the following linguistic backgrounds/nationalities: American (1), Brazilian (1), Chinese (5, both Taiwan and PRC), French (1), Indonesian (2), Korean (12), Kuwaiti (1), Japanese (3), Thai (2). Fields/topics represented: Asian economic crisis (2), biochemistry, bioengineering, biomedicine, business (telecommuting in Thailand), comparative literature, computer science (2), econometrics (2), economics (2), education (2), electrical engineering, Hungarian economy (post-Iron Curtain), materials science, natural resources in the PRC, organizational behavior, organizational development (2), Southeast Asian studies, urban planning (2).
• Proofing and light editing of poetry and short stories for Writer’s Relief, Inc.,a publication services company.
• Transcribing interviews on a regular basis for a freelance writer under contract with SAP software—the client interviews corporations and organizations that have implemented SAP software, from full ERP suites to specialty applications to e-business; this has familiarized me with terms and business practices of IT departments on a global basis (since 1998); this client also writes occasional freelance articles on machine tooling and machine tool technology/software.
• Transcribing interviews undertaken for doctoral research on the part of a visiting lecturer at Cornell (home institution: Arizona State University); topic: critical services development at major electronics corporations (e.g., Hewlett-Packard, Compaq).
1997-2000:
• Other projects and jobs I have undertaken include editing a book on science education and rationality (ongoing but currently inactive), copy editing or proofreading numerous master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, copy editing text for an Internet-based Cornell University course in horticulture (Spring 1999), archival research supporting a biography of Carl Sagan (for Joel Achenbach, Summer 1998), writing entries for a computer dictionary (Fall 1997, Miller Freeman publishers).
Prior to 1997:
Editorial and research assistant to Dr. Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, January 1995-July 1997 (employment terminated following Dr. Sagan’s death):
While employed by Dr. Sagan, I assisted him in writing and publishing articles and books, typically beginning with transcription from audio tape, assisting in development of all subsequent drafts of a manuscript, submitting the manuscript to the publisher and working with the publisher through proofing, selection and placement of illustrations, follow-up fact-checking and related research, etc. Following Dr. Sagan’s death, for example, with Ms. Druyan’s oversight and approval, I was solely responsible for working with Random House (U.S.) and Headline Book Publishing (U.K.) in proofing, researching, making editorial decisions about, procuring illustrations for and otherwise supervising publication of Dr. Sagan’s posthumous final book, Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium.
Cornell University:
Lecturer in Philosophy and Faculty Facilitator in Teaching Writing, a training program for Teaching Assistants in the John S. Knight Writing Program, Fall 1994
SUNY College at Oswego:
Adjunct Assistant Professor, 1991-4
Lafayette College:
Visiting Assistant Professor, 1990-1
Ithaca College:
Lecturer, Spring 1990
Cayuga Community College:
Adjunct Instructor, Inmate Higher Education Program, Cayuga Correctional Facility, Spring 1990
The University of Georgia:
Visiting Assistant Professor, 1988-9
Cornell University:
Lecturer, Summer Session 1987
Ithaca College:
Lecturer, Fall 1986
Cornell University:
Lecturer, Spring 1986, 1982-3, 1981-2, Summer Session 1981; Senior Graduate Level III Teaching Assistant (same duties as lecturer), Fall 1985, Fall 1984; Teaching Assistant, 1980-1, 1979-80, Spring 1978
Publications
Invited review of Brian McGuinness, Wittgenstein: A Life and Ray Monk, Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, in The Philosophical Review, July 1992, 101:3
Invited review of Robert John Ackermann, Wittgenstein’s City, in The Philosophical Review, April 1992, 101:2
“The Rhetoric of Grammar: Understanding Wittgenstein’s Method,” in Metaphilosophy, January/April 1990, 21:1, 2
Presentations:
Session Chair, Warren Steinkraus Lectures on Human Ideals (“Ideals of Non-Violence”); Session I: Paul Allen, “How to Escape Ecolocaust, Violence, and War . . .” SUNY College at Oswego, Oswego, New York, October 5, 1991
“Wittgenstein and Vienna,” Guest Lecture for Senior Colloquium on ‘The Colorful Sunset of the Hapsburg Empire,’ Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania, May 1991
“The Rhetoric of Grammar: Understanding Wittgenstein’s Method,” meeting of the Georgia Philosophical Society, Atlanta, Georgia, October 15, 1988
“The Rhetoric of Grammar: Understanding Wittgenstein’s Method” (early draft), meeting of the Cornell Philosophy Discussion Club, Ithaca, New York, April 28, 1987, comments by Carl Ginet
Comments on Paul Scatena’s “Pains, Sensations and Functionalisms,” meeting of the Creighton Club, Skaneateles, New York, October 11, 1986
Courses Taught:
Cornell University:
“The Mind-Body Problem,” Freshman Writing Seminar, Fall 1994 (award-winning class—see below)
SUNY College at Oswego:
“Theory of Knowledge” (two sections), “Ethics I,” Spring 1994; “Metaphysics,” “Ethics II” (two sections), Fall 1993; “Ethics I” (two sections), “Philosophy of Mind,” Spring 1993; “Ethics II,” “Philosophy of Language,” Spring 1992; “Ethics I” (two sections), Fall 1991
Lafayette College:
“Introduction to Philosophy (associated with the college’s Comprehensive Writing Program),” “Metaphysics,” “Philosophical Analysis,” Spring 1991; “Logic I” (two sections), “Introduction to Philosophy,” Fall 1990
Ithaca College:
“Introduction to Logic,” Spring 1990
Cayuga Community College, Inmate Higher Education Program:
“Logic” [critical thinking], Spring 1990
The University of Georgia:
“Contemporary Analytic Tradition” (having graduate students in the majority), “Introduction to Deductive Logic (Honors),” “Fundamental Questions of Philosophy (Honors),” “Introduction to Philosophy,” “Introduction to Deductive Logic,” and “Rational Thinking,” 1988-9
Cornell University:
“Introduction to Philosophy,” Summer Session 1987; “Mind and Self,” Freshman Seminar Program, Spring 1986, Fall 1985, Fall 1984; “Mortal Questions,” Freshman Seminar Program, Spring 1983; “Philosophical Skepticism,” Freshman Seminar Program, Spring 1982, Fall 1982; “The Concept of Mind,” Freshman Seminar Program, Fall 1981; “Logic: Evidence and Argument,” Summer Session 1981
Ithaca College:
“Introduction to Philosophy: Greek Foundations,” Fall 1986
Courses Assisted In:
Cornell University:
“Logic: Evidence and Argument,” under John G. Bennett, Spring 1981, Fall 1978; under Richard Boyd, Spring 1978; “Philosophy of Mind,” under Robert C. Stalnaker, Fall 1980; under Sydney Shoemaker, Spring 1978; “Modern Philosophy,” under Sydney Shoemaker, Spring 1980; “Introduction to Formal Logic,” under Harold Hodes, Fall 1979
Languages:
Reading knowledge of German
Doctoral Dissertation:
Elements of Philosophical Grammar: Conceptual Foundations of Wittgenstein’s Method (1986)
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