Today@Dal

Are you finding it a challenge to start a graduate writing project? Or finish one? Are you working on a paper for publication or perhaps you’re contemplating that first chapter of your dissertation or thesis? Whatever the situation, we thought that you might like a few days dedicated to writing in a supportive environment.
The concept we will be using has worked well during the past nine years here at Dalhousie. Graduate students have consistently reported they find the week to be an effective “push” to getting the writing completed.

How it works: Students register by email, show up each day at 9:00, go off to write, and then meet briefly at the end of the day to give a one-minute progress report.
Writing Schedule: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 9-4 and Friday 9-12. We’ll meet daily in B400 of the Killam Library.

Space to Write: Students go off to write in their own spaces –often in their offices or common areas (the libraries and learning commons are almost empty at that time of year).

Opportunity for Coaching: Appointments with Writing Centre faculty and advisors are available during the week.

Optional Workshops: The key element of Writing Week is the goal setting and “reporting-in”. However, students have sometimes requested workshops on specific aspects of graduate writing, and so we will provide opportunities to attend a workshop or two. For example, we sometimes offer sessions on communicating with supervisors or provide a grammar refresher. Please feel free to let us know in advance if there are areas of concern for you, and we’ll see what we can do.

Register by writing to Janice MacDonald Eddington at janice.eddington@dal.ca as soon as possible.