Graduate Writing Support
To support graduate student writers across the three graduate schools at Brandeis, the University Writing Center offers graduate specific programming in addition to our consultations. This programming aims to help meet the unique writing needs of graduate students and to support the development of strong writing habits and professional skills. This programming additionally aims to build community between students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and the International Business School through shared writing experiences, including:
- Bi-weekly Graduate Write-in Studio
- Graduate Workshops and Events
Information on how to participate is listed below. If you have any questions about our graduate writing support programs, please reach out to us at
writingcenter@brandeis.edu.
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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.
Write-ins are typically held over Zoom and last 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.
To sign up for a Write-in, visit our Upcoming Events page.
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.
Past workshops and events have included:
- 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
- Putting the Purpose into your Statement of Purpose
- Presentations and Job Talks
- Time Management
- 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
Upcoming Events page.
The Writing Center is also happy to help graduate students set up peer exchange groups.
If you would like help finding peers, please reach out to us. We will send a message to our list to put you in touch with other students who are looking to start peer exchange groups.
Your peer exchange group is also welcome to request a peer feedback training session with the Writing Center before you get started sharing your work with each other. To make a request to be put in touch with other graduate students seeking peer groups or to request a peer feedback training session with the Writing Center, email us at writingcenter@brandeis.edu.
Additionally, one-on-one consultations with our graduate tutors are a great way to get peer feedback on your writing.
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
Part resource, part learning hub, and part community, the Writing Center’s Graduate Writing Support programming aims to meet the following objectives:
- Instruct graduate students in the genres and conventions of writing projects common to graduate coursework and requirements
- Instruct graduate students in the genres, conventions, and timelines of writing projects common to professional life in higher education and academia
- Provide individualized feedback for graduate students working on their graduate and professional writing projects
- Foster effective peer-to-peer writing exchange, accountability, and writing groups
- Cultivate a space of retreat from other graduate responsibilities and power networks where graduate students can put their writing and research first
- Cultivate graduate community through shared writing experiences
