University Writing Program

The Write-in Studio offers graduate students a structured time and space to work on their long-term writing projects (for instance, dissertations, theses, job/grant application, articles, or other writing projects) and develop good writing habits like time-blocking and goal setting, while also connecting with other Brandeis graduate students.

Each Write-in is held over Zoom and lasts three hours.The first 10-15 minutes of each session is dedicated to reviewing weekly progress and setting and sharing daily writing goals. Between goal setting and a mid-way break, writers turn off their cameras and mics to work individually to meet the goal they set. Each session ends with goal setting for the upcoming week. A Writing Center staff member and a Brandeis Librarian will be available every Write-in for writing, research, and citation questions that come up. 

By signing up, writers pledge to stay for as much of the session as possible, discuss their writing goals and progress with other graduate students, focus solely on their own writing projects, and to spend as much time as they can actively writing or working on tasks directly related to writing (research, brainstorming, reviewing feedback, analyzing or organizing data, etc.). For more information about the Write-ins, check out these Frequently Asked Questions.

The Graduate Write-in Studio is scheduled on Mondays from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (EST) and Wednesdays from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (EST). To sign up for a Write-in, visit our calendar.

The Writing Center hosts a series of workshops and events for graduate students. Workshops in this series are tailored to the specific needs of graduate students in their various roles as students, writers, instructors, graders, and peers. 

The schedule for the Spring 2021 semester will include:

• Getting Started with your Dissertation or Thesis (Collaboration with the Brandeis Library)
• Graduate Instructors Workshop: Writing Effective Feedback and Engaging Course Materials
• Graduate Term Papers: An Introduction to Writing at the Graduate Level
• Captivating your Audience: Writing for Academic Presentations and Posters 
• How They Did It: a Q&A panel with recent MA/PhD graduates.

To sign up for a workshop/event, visit our calendar. 

The Writing Center also facilitates graduate student peer exchange groups. The aim of these groups is to provide a centralized way for graduate writers to connect with other graduate students, receive peer feedback and support with their writing, and maintain a shared sense of accountability with their work. Each group consists of 3-4 graduate students. The Writing Center offers training on providing effective peer feedback at the beginning of the semester and is also available throughout the semester for continuing guidance and facilitation, if desired. Please note that being part of a peer exchange group is a semester-long commitment. 

Sign up here using our peer-exchange registration form (if you have trouble accessing the form, please email writingcenter@brandeis.edu). Sign-ups for the Spring semester close February 1, 2021. 

The Writing Center also hosts a monthly reading and discussion group each semester. Readings would be preselected and distributed and discussions would be held on Zoom and moderated by a Writing Center Director.

Possible topics for the Spring 2021 reading group include Writing Across the Disciplines, Readings in Critical Thought, and “The Academy,” which would include readings on current topics in pedagogy and higher education. Help us choose our reading topic! (If you have trouble accessing the form, please email the Writing Center.)

Dates, Sign-up, and topics TBA

Check out our shared Zotero library which contains citations for several guides on Writing, Research, and Time Management for graduate writers as well as links to several helpful apps. 

https://www.zotero.org/groups/2462120/brandeis_graduate_writers/library

If you have any suggestions for our resource library, please email us at writingcenter@brandeis.edu

Want to stay in the loop and connect with other graduate student writers? Join our listserv!

1. Send a message to sympa@lists.brandeis.edu from your brandeis.edu email address
2. In the subject line of your message, type in: subscribe wc-gradwrite Firstname Name (indicate your own first name and name).
3. Leave the message body blank.