Writing Hub Events + Sign-Ups 

Make an appointment with one of our graduate student writing consultants!

Graduate students can make 30- or 60-minute consultation appointments, and up to two 60-minute writing appointments per week. 

• To make an appointment, go to our online scheduling system. 
• To meet our undergraduate writing consultants, see our consultant information page. 
• To know what to expect in a consultation, see our writing consultation info page. 

The Writing Hub's Grad Student Essentials workshop series explores key topics for writing at the graduate level. These workshops aim to provide a solid foundation as you embark on your graduate career, addressing topics and questions that are specifically relevant to new graduate students. 

We run the Grad Student Essentials series during Fall Quarter. However, you will soon be able to view videos and matierlas for all of the workshop topics on the Writing Hub Canvas site for graduate students (COMING SOON). 

Come to one of our grad student writing workshops to learn more about common writing genres and develop your skills as an academic writer. Our graduate workshops run between 2-3 hours and combine discussion, reading samples, facilitated writing/practice time, and content overview.  

Don't see the workshop you need? You will soon be able to view videos and materials for a varitety of our workshop topics on the Writing Hub Canvas site for graduate students (COMING SOON). 

Note: If you are looking for a workshop on statements for the Academic Job Market (i.e. teaching statments or diversity statements), we have developed these workshops into asynchronous online materials. Please visit our asynchronous web resources page to view the materials. 

The Dissertation Writer's Workshop is a new program from the Writing Hub, specifically intended for ABD graduate students who are in the process of writing their dissertations.

Part workshop, part writing retreat, the Dissertation Writer's workshop consists of 3 consecutive sessions. Each session will entail a 1.5 hour workshop designed to demystify the dissertation, as well as 2.5 hours of structured, independent writing time to help you make progress. We encourage you to attend all 3 sessions, since each session is designed to build upon and complement the previous. But if you can only attend one or two sessions, that's okay too.

Workshop Sessions: 

• Session 1 - Understanding the Document: The Genre, Audience, Purpose, and Structure of a Dissertation (offered February 2 and February 22) 
• Session 2 - Putting the Pieces Together: Telling a Story through Your Chapters (offered February 4 and February 24)
• Session 3 - Actually Writing It! Strategies for Motivating and Sustaining Your Dissertation Writing (offered February 9 and February 26)

Dissertation Writer's Workshop Session Schedule:

Note: We will offer the sessions in both a T/Th schedule and a M/W/F schedule. You can sign up for all 3 sessions at one time, or mix-and-match the session dates. 

All sessions of the Dissertation Writers Workshop will continue to take place via Zoom. Participants will be sent appropriate Zoom links after they submit their RSVP forms. 

Writing retreats offer graduate students dedicated time and space to develop more positive writing practices. Each retreat session is divided into focused writing time and time for workshops, discussion, and planning. We offer retreats in both 5-Week and 5-Day formats. To learn more about the retreats, visit our Writing Retreat Information Page. 

All writing retreat sessions will continue to happen online, via Zoom. Participants will be sent appropriate Zoom links after their RSVPs have been confirmed by the Writing Hub.

Note: If the retreat you want is already full, please come to the (Virtual) Writing Room, which meets via Zoom every weekday morning (Monday-Friday), 9:00-11:00am. Bring a coffee, make progress on your project, and enjoy virtual community with other grad writers. No RSVP or commitment required, just come and work!

Grad Retreat Schedule:

The (Virtual) Writing Room is a daily, supportive, and focused time and space for you to make progress on your writing projects. Bring a coffee, make progress on your project, and enjoy virtual community with other grad writers! No RSVP or commitment required, just come and work. 

The Writing Room will resume on Monday, January 4. 

To Join a (Virtual) Writing Room session, click on the appropriate day of the week below! (Note: you must be signed in to your UCSD Zoom account to access the session.)

Go to the Writing Room main page to bookmark these links.

The Writing Hub puts on annual events and consultation sessions in support of the campus GradSLAM competition. We see GradSLAM as an important opportunity for graduate students to cultivate their scholarly perspectives, practice articulating their ideas clearly and persuasively, and discover important aspects about their work that can inform and even inspire ongoing writing projects. 

GradSLAM participants are welcome to make one-on-one appointments with Graduate Writing Consultants to work on the writing-adjacent aspects of their talk, such as:

• Making a highly-technical concept easy to understand
• Logical organization ("flow")
• Transition language that helps the audience follow along
• Stance-taking language that helps you signal your position on a topic

Grad Consultants are not equipped to give feedback on powerpoint slide design or verbal presentation skills. For support with this aspect of the program, GradSLAM participants should take advantage of one-on-one presentation coaching from the Center for Student Involvement. 

GradSLAM 2021 Events and Resources

Group Brainstorming Sessions: Led by a Grad Writing Consultant, these drop-in sessions will discuss GradSLAM as a genre for research communication, analyze example talks from prior years, and explore how you might talk about your own research in this forum. No RSVP required, drop in when you can, for as long as you can!

• Monday, January 25th, 10am-12pm: Join Here
• Thursday, January 28th, 12-2pm: Join Here
• Tuesday, February 2nd, 10am-12pm: Join Here

Workshops: We are hosting 2 workshops that will be generally useful for anyone interested in writing for non-expert and lay-person audiences, and will be particularly useful for GradSLAM participants. 

• Connecting with Non-Expert Audiences: Friday, February 5th, 10am-12:30pm (Sign Up)

• Writing for the Public: Friday, February 12th, 10am-12:30pm (Sign Up)

Other Resources: To view informational webinars, access one-on-one presentation coaching from the Center for Student Involvement, view resources from other campusus, and/or ask questions about GradSLAM, please visit the "Prep Resources" page on the GradSLAM website.