Workshops, Retreats, and Write-Ins
The Graduate School Writing Center offers workshops to support graduate students as they communicate in a range of academic and professional situations. All workshops are open to enrolled University of Maryland graduate students free of charge. We also welcome suggestions for workshops and will design and provide programs for specific disciplinary needs upon request. Please contact Dr. Linda Macri, Director of Academic and Professional Development, with questions or suggestions.
The weekly Friday Write-In will continue this semester, each Friday from 9am-11am via zoom. See the calendar on this page for the link.
3MT and GradTerp Exchange Preparation
Literature Review Series
Preparing for Conferences
Developing as an Academic Writer
3MT and GradTerp Exchange Preparation
3MT Workshops -- February 1, 3-4pm (virtual) Register here, February 9, 2-3pm Register here
The annual Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) challenges students to communicate the significance of their research projects to a non-specialist audience in just THREE MINUTES! Please visit the 3MT webpage for more information. Join us for one of our workshops to help you prepare for the competition or just to hone your communication skills!
Literature Review Series
In conjunction with Research Education at University Libraries, the GSWC will offer this series on understanding and developing the literature review. A literature review documents the disciplinary conversation you are joining as you embark on answering your own research questions. All sessions in this series will be held virtually.
Understanding the Literature Review -- February 9, 12:00PM - 1:00PM Register here
New to research writing at the graduate level, or getting ready to write your first literature review? Not sure how to start the process of a literature review? Join us for this workshop to understand the fundamentals of a literature review.
Searching for Sources – February 16, 12:00PM - 1:00PM Register here
How do you run an efficient and effective search when looking for sources and citations for a literature review or other research project? Join us to learn about how to frame and conduct your search on databases and search engines, and get a brief introduction to citation managers.
How to Pick Your Citation Manager -- February 21, 12:00PM - 1:00PM Register here
Have you wanted to use citation management software but aren’t sure where to start? Then this is the workshop for you! This workshop will review options for citation managers here at UMD, how to download citation manager software, and open courses on citation management.
Introduction to Zotero – February 23, 12:00PM - 1:00PM Register here
Zotero is a free, open-source citation management software useful for keeping track of bibliographic information and generating citations and bibliographies. This workshop is designed for new users of Zotero and will cover creating bibliographies. Other topics will include adding items to the library, in-text citation generation, changing citation styles, organizing citations.
Reading and Notetaking -- February 28, 12:00pm -1:00pm Register here
You’ve collected your articles—now you have to read them! Join us to learn more about reading for writing, effective note taking, and writing brief summaries for the literature review process.
Introduction to Mendeley – March 2, 12:00-1:00pm Register here
Mendeley is a free, open-source citation management software useful for keeping track of bibliographic information and generating citations and bibliographies. This workshop is designed for new users of Mendeley and will cover creating bibliographies. Other topics will include adding items to the library, in-text citation generation, changing citation styles, organizing citations.
Preparing for Conferences
Presenting at academic conferences is a mainstay of an academic career. Conferences are places where you share early findings, get valuable feedback, and hone your communication skills. In this series, timed to align with deadlines for Graduate Student Government’s Graduate Research Appreciation Day (GRAD), we’ll move through the steps of writing an abstract, preparing a talk or a poster presentation, and refining your delivery.
Writing an Abstract for Conferences – February 23, 2-3pm Register here
The challenge of writing an abstract is often that you have to be able to describe work you haven’t done yet, or you have to summarize a longer project. In this session, we’ll talk about responding to a call for presentations, using the call for GRAD as an example. Participants are encouraged to bring in the calls in their disciplines they are interested in and we’ll start to draft abstracts for submission. Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Drafting a Conference Talk or Poster Presentation – March 14, 12-1pm Register here
Your abstract for the conference you want to attend has been accepted–congratulations! Now you have to actually write the presentation or prepare the poster! In this session, we’ll focus on moving from abstract to draft of a talk or poster presentation. What do you want to say to make sure your audience gets excited about your topic? What do you need to tell them about the background, your research, etc.? Join us to discuss effective strategies for creating a memorable conference presentation. Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Polishing Your Conference Delivery – Mar 28, 12-1pm Register here
You’ve prepared your talk or poster for that upcoming conference–now it’s time to work on your delivery! Join us for this workshop about strategies for ensuring that your delivery is as brilliant as your research! Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Developing as an Academic Writer
You may think you already should know how to write in your discipline, but writing at an advanced academic level is just as much a learned skill as any of the research methods you are learning in your coursework. In this series, we’ll address some of the (often hidden) challenges and strategies for developing as an academic writer.
Understanding Academic Writing in My Field: learning from a mentor text -- Part 1 – Feb. 27, 12-1pm Register here (hybrid); Part 2 – March 6, 12-1pm Register here (hybrid)
You are probably already doing a lot of reading in your field, and maybe someone has told you that reading is the key to good writing. That’s true, but it doesn’t just happen–it requires being attentive and analytical about what you are reading. In this two-part workshop, we’ll explore how reading in your discipline can help you develop writing skills by looking at a mentor text, a text from your field that you identify as a good model. In Part 1, we’ll look at your mentor text to consider structure, sequence, and construction of the argument; in Part 2, we’ll be attentive to stylistic questions such as how to build a relationship with the reader, word choice, and sentence structure.These workshops are aimed at graduate students earlier in their academic career, but all are welcome. Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Understanding the (and my) Writing Process -- March 13, 4-5pm Register here (hybrid)
As undergraduates, we often focused on writing to a deadline or responding to an assignment, but writing in graduate school is often a very different experience and, usually, an iterative process. Join us for this workshop to develop an understanding of how writing is a process and not just a task, and to explore and expand your own writing process. Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Getting Unstuck with Your Writing -- March 28, 2-3pm Register here (hybrid), March 31, 3-4pm Register here (virtual)
In a rut. Writer’s block. Staring at a blank screen. We all get stuck with our writing at some point. Understanding what’s causing this sense of being stuck is an important element of getting unstuck; so is having practical steps to take when we feel stuck. Join us for this session about exploring and eliminating this sense of being stuck.
Moving a Writing Project Forward, Part 1: From Ideas to Draft April 6, 12-1 Register here (hybrid)
All good research starts with good ideas, but how do you move from an idea to a draft, from having scattered ideas and notes into articulating paragraphs and sections? There’s no single way to do it, but in this workshop, we’ll explore various ways to move a project from ideas to draft. Participants are encouraged to bring along their brainstorming and ideas! Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.
Moving a Writing Project Forward, Part 2: Revising Early Drafts April 18, 12-1pm Register here (hybrid)
Graduate-level writing is a process, one that involves multiple drafts, and often early drafts are pretty messy. How do you move from an early, messy draft to a more polished version of your work? There’s no single method, but in this workshop, we’ll explore various ways to move projects forward, from reconsidering structure to revising at the sentence level. Participants are encouraged to bring a messy draft along! Hybrid session – attend either on zoom or in 5109 McKeldin.