Graduate Student Writing Resources
The Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology offers a suite of writing support services for graduate students and faculty. All programming is run by Linda Smith-Brecheisen, Assistant Professor of Instruction in Humanities at UTD.
These resources include: one-on-one Graduate Writing Consultations (GWC), weekly Structured Writing Accountability Groups (SWAG), bi-weekly Dissertation Feedback Working Groups (DFW), Graduate Writing Workshops, and Graduate Student Write-Ins. These resources will help teach writers the advanced skills necessary for success in writing in academia and beyond.
Graduate Writing Consultations
In a GWC, graduate students will receive one-on-one support for ongoing writing projects, such as abstracts, dissertation chapters, theses, journal articles, and papers for coursework. Sessions last one hour and will focus on an excerpt of in-progress work (up to 10 pages). These consultations are by appointment only and will be held remotely on Teams. In a GWC, you’ll learn advanced rhetorical skills that will give you the tools you need to successfully revise for your specific audience.
Structured Writing Accountability Groups
SWAG works from the insight that it’s incredibly powerful to develop communities of supportive accountability for academic writing. In these sessions, graduate students will work (remotely) alongside their colleagues to make progress on their writing projects. In SWAG, you’ll work to develop your own sustainable writing practices, and learn methods to increase productivity and reduce burnout. You’ll also develop a writing community!
Application form and more information about SWAG.
Interested students will need to commit to the weekly writing group for 11 weeks. The application period will typically open the first Monday of the semester.
Dissertation Feedback Working Group
If you have just started writing your dissertation or you’ve been chipping away at it for some time, Dissertation Feedback Working Group (DFW) can help you make progress on your writing goals and receive peer feedback on your dissertation. DFW meets every other week on Teams for 90 minutes and you will both give and receive feedback on writing submissions. For each session you will: learn a writing, revising skill, and/or time management skill, share your writing goals, share your writing with colleagues (5-10 pages), provide and receive directed feedback, and discuss writing successes and troubleshoot challenges.
Monthly Write-Ins
Write-ins provide the space and time for you and your colleagues to come together to (quietly) get writing done and help to keep each other accountable. The idea is that when you are working quietly alongside your colleagues, it is easier to fight procrastination and keep working. These sessions will be on one Friday a month in February, March, and April and will run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Upcoming Workshops:
All special workshops will appear below if any are upcoming. Registration is required and must be completed the week before any given workshop.
Questions?
Please email Linda at linda.smith-brecheisen@utdallas.edu.
Linda is formerly the Associate Director of the Writing Program at the University of Chicago, where for over a decade, she developed and managed writing programs for students, staff, and faculty. In addition to her work at UChicago, she also does work with advanced scholars and business professionals, helping them make effective rhetorical decisions about their writing.