All UConn students, including undergraduates, graduate students, and second language writers, are invited to sign up for our writing workshops. Each lasts between 30 minutes and an hour, and you are expected to be active participants. Come prepared to ask questions.

You must sign up for workshops in advance. If workshops are full, you cannot join in unless you have registered in advance.

SIGN UP HERE:

PERSONAL STATEMENT WORKSHOPS

Location: EC-1 (Homer Babbidge Library)
Dates & Times: 2/4 at 12 pm; 3/5 at 5 pm; 4/1 at 12 pm

Our Personal Statements workshops focus on the Personal Statement (or Statement of Purpose) as a genre of writing. Graduate schools, fellowships, grants, and other competitive programs often require each applicant to submit a short essay about her history and goals. These essays are sometimes written in response to very specific questions; sometimes, they’re written in response to a generic prompt. In both cases, a good personal statement carefully balances its author’s history and aspirations.

These 30 minute sessions introduce students to basic conventions of most statements. We will compare and contrast the introductions to several successful essays, and students will write a draft of a new ‘hook’ to their own personal statement in-session. Students at any point in the writing process are invited to attend. However, this session is not appropriate for students drafting statements of purpose, for PhD programs. Undergraduates, graduate students, and non-native English speakers are all welcome.

WORKSHOPS ON ACADEMIC WRITING
Location: EC-1 (Homer Babbidge Library)

Abstract Writing: 2/18 at 12 pm
This workshop focuses on the abstract as both a genre and as a stage in the writing process that allows writers to express the main ideas of their arguments in crystallized form. Conferences or journals often ask for contributors to submit abstracts of their research studies, and W course instructors at UConn sometimes request that students sum up their projects in brief. We will consider the basic conventions of abstract writing, focusing on higher order concerns such as addressing your audience, explaining your methodology, clearly stating your original contributions, and contextualizing your research; we will also, albeit to lesser extent, address stylistic issues such as concision and clarity. Come prepared to participate in discussion and interactive exercises. Undergraduates, graduate students, and non-native English speakers are all welcome.

Literature Reviews: 3/26 at 5 pm
This workshop focuses on the literature review as both a genre of writing and a stage in the writing process that allows writers to work through previous researchers’ ideas. Literature reviews are often requested as parts of dissertations, grant proposals, or research articles across many fields, including the sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences. This workshop will consider the basic conventions of the narrative lit review; the systematic lit review; and the meta-analysis. We will address strategies for identifying a topic; organizing your review; and analyzing and synthesizing literature. Come prepared to participate in discussion and interactive exercises. Undergraduates, graduate students, and non-native English speakers are all welcome.

Writing Introductions: 4/15 at 12 pm
This workshop focuses on the introduction both as a piece of a paper or critical article—and as a stage in the writing process which allows writers to revise and reconsider their conclusions. This workshop will address when to write (and revise) your introduction and how to balance general statements with: details, commentary, and broader statements about the paper’s purpose or aims. We will examine introduction paragraphs and introduction sections from several sample papers from different fields, and students will be encouraged to draft outlines for their own introductions in-session. Come prepared to participate in discussion and interactive exercises. Undergraduates, graduate students, and non-native English speakers are all welcome.

 

We will not be offering second language writing workshops in the spring semester, but all second language writers are welcome to attend our workshops on academic writing.