Writing Seminars and Workshops

A Grants and Fellowships Workshop is offered during the fall semester.  This workshop provides valuable advice on how to prepare a strong application and also informs students on various grants and/or applications that are available each year.

A Qualifying Examination Workshop is offered during the fall semester. Second-year students will be required to attend a Qualifying Examination Workshop led by the ADGS. Normally scheduled in late fall, these workshops offer an overview of the exam process and provide a loose structure within which students may come together to form small, self-directed study groups to help in preparing for the Qualifying Examination. 

A Dissertation Proposal Workshop is offered In late May or early June. Following the completion of the Qualifying Examination, third year students are required to attend a Dissertation Proposal Writing Workshop led by the ADGS. This workshop will outline the process of writing a dissertation proposal and provide an overview of benchmarks for satisfactory progression on the dissertation. (See below for more information about the proposal writing process.)

All students are urged to enroll in a non-credit seminar designed to help them work on a dissertation chapter or take a course paper through the several stages of revision that lead to the production of a publishable article. Offered as often as the department can afford a faculty assignment to this course, the seminar typically will combine initial instruction aimed at standard problems (methods of surveying published work, mechanics of presentation, questions of audience, the process of revision, identification of appropriate journals) with more particularized guidance on an individual or small-group basis. The circulation of, and collective commentary upon, drafts of work in progress will be a central part of the seminar.