CPCD-WR-15 - Professional Writing: A Workshop Series for Graduate Students

Course Description

Series description: Writing in graduate school is challenging on many levels – but learning some key approaches and skills can make it easier. This workshop series focuses on aspects of writing that graduate students most often struggle with, and want to get better at. We’ll start out with the basics of good writing, and then help you develop good habits, pick up some helpful tricks, and understand the structure, purpose, and audience of many kinds of writing you need to do as a graduate student in professional communication (from email to class papers, research proposals, and of course your thesis or dissertation).

Workshop #1: Becoming a Stronger Writer
Location: Dimond Library room 421
Date: Friday, September 29th
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Description: Writing expectations in graduate school often go beyond what you were taught in college. If you come from a different country or culture, the discrepancies between writing in English and in another language can add to the challenge. In this session we will cover the most important rules of writing to help you build a strong foundation for all of your graduate school writing tasks.

Workshop #2: Accountability, Writing Tips and Other Helpful Tricks
Location: Dimond Library room 421
Date: Friday, October 13th
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Description: Writing doesn't come naturally to most people. The most prolific writers use a wide range of practices to stay productive and improve their writing. In this session you will learn best practices to help you get organized, stay productive, develop and improve your writing skills, and build a community of peers to keep you accountable.

Workshop #3: Focus on your Current Writing Project: ______ [fill the blank]
Location: Dimond Library room 421
Date: Friday, November 3rd
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Description: Every writing project has its own special requirements, but there are general strategies that can help with all your graduate writing projects, from emails to grants, applications, and theses. In this session you will learn how to apply basic principles (such as considering audience, context, and goals) to whatever you are working on.

Workshop #4: Writing Effective Dissertation Year Fellowship (DYF) and Summer Teaching Assistant Fellowship (STAF) Proposals
Location: Online via zoom
Date: Friday, December 8th
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Description: The UNH Graduate School offers partial summer support for TAs (Summer Teaching Assistant Fellowships), and dissertation-year support (Dissertation Year Fellowships) for doctoral students. This workshop will help you prepare successful applications for these fellowships by focusing on how to write a proposal that explains your research to people outside your field. It will also be good practice in writing a funding application that reflects the award criteria, which increases your chance of success.