Graduate Writing Center Workshops

Summer 2009 Workshops

The Graduate Writing Center offers a wide variety of general writing workshops and workshops on more specialized issues. We also hold targeted writing workshops for graduate students in the areas of Humanities & Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences & Engineering. Special thanks to our campus programming partners: UCLA Library, Writing Programs, Academic Technology Services Statistical Consulting Group, Student Psychological Services, and the Career Center.

Research Workshops for Graduate Students and Graduate Student TAs

EndNote
Gabriella Gray, YRL Librarian
This session offers a basic overview of the purpose, uses, and features of EndNote, a program that helps researchers manage references and produce bibliographies for projects large and small.
Friday, July 24, 1:00-2:30pm
Location: Research Library East Electronic Classroom, room 21536 (map)

Information Literacy Workshop for UCLA Graduate Student TAs
Esther Grassian, College Library
This workshop will provide you with tips and techniques for improving your students' information researching and critical thinking skills through demo, hands on, and review of a sample syllabus enhanced with information literacy assignment ideas. By using some of these tips and techniques, you'll save time working individually with students in helping them learn how to conduct research and avoid plagiarism. Students armed with information literacy skills should be able to...

* select, narrow and broaden a research topic
* describe the differences between popular and scholarly publications
* identify useful databases to search for information on their topics
* conduct efficient, effective searches
* identify useful research materials, by applying evaluative criteria
* describe several reasons for citing information
* avoid plagiarism by recognizing when to cite, and by citing according to the styl required for their research papers

Space is limited, so please rsvp for one of these sessions directly to estherg@library.ucla.edu

Wednesday, July 22nd, 1 pm to 3 pm
Thursday, August 6th, 1 pm to 3 pm
Thursday, September 17th, 1 pm to 3 pm

When Esther receives your rsvp, she'll confirm, send you the location, and a url for a brief survey that will help her address the topics that interest you. If you cannot make it to one of these sessions, you may be interested in the "Teach Information Literacy & Critical Thinking!" guide Esther created that describes many information literacy teaching tips and techniques, some of which will be demonstrated and discussed during the workshop:
http://guides.library.ucla.edu/content.php?pid=33500&sid=262803

For additional workshops offered by the UCLA libraries, see their seminar page.

General Writing Workshops

Grammar 101: A Refresher Workshop
Netta Avineri, Applied Linguistics & TESL
What is the difference between "who" and "whom"?  Is "politics" singular or plural?  What is a dangling modifier, and how do I avoid it?  Designed for both native and non-native speakers of English, this workshop will review pronoun use, tricky issues in subject-verb agreement, and dangling and misplaced modifiers. Participants will also practice editing for grammatical accuracy. 
Friday, July 10th, 1:15-2:45pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Writing the Book Review: Strategies and Pitfalls
Jeannine Murray-Román, Comparative Literature
This workshop will discuss the book review genre and strategies for graduate students to approach writing the book review. While the first hour of the session will be primarily presentational, the second hour will consist of a workshop for those who are currently writing a review. If you would like to participate in this second hour, bring a hard copy of a recent book review published in the journal for which you'll be reviewing and a draft of the review you are writing.
Wednesday, July 15th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Punctuation 101: A Refresher Workshop
Jessica Preece, Political Science
Does a comma always go before "and"?  What is the difference between "which" and "that"?  This workshop will review commas, semicolons, colons, parallel structure, and restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. Participants will also practice editing for punctuation.
Friday, July 17th, 12:00-1:30pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Revision Workshop: Strategies for Revising Longer Texts
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
This workshop will be a hands-on workshop to give people ideas and strategies for how to revise longer texts, such as master's theses, dissertation chapters or proposals. Please bring a hard copy of your own work, at least 15-20 double-spaced pages (more is fine). If you would like to do some of the preparation work ahead of time, start working on a backwards outline by tagging each paragraph with a phrase describing its main point.
Thursday, July 23rd, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 5, Student Activities Center (3rd floor)

Style 101: A Refresher Workshop
Jessica Preece, Political Science
I've been told that my writing is "dense" and "passive" and that my sentences don't "flow." How can I fix these problems?  This workshop will help participants improve the clarity and cohesion of their sentences and paragraphs.  They will also practice editing for style.
Friday, July 24th, 12:00-1:30pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Preparing a Conference Paper: PowerPoint Presentations in the Social Sciences
Mac Marston, Archaeology
This workshop will focus on techniques for outlining, building, and presenting an effective 10-20 minute oral/video (e.g., PowerPoint) presentation as typically presented in the social sciences. We will discuss strategies for converting a written paper into an oral presentation, for using limited time effectively, and for incorporating multimedia elements into a presentation, among others.
Wednesday, July 29th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Preparing and Presenting Conference Papers in the Humanities
Jeannine Murray-Roman, Comparative Literature
Allison Crumly, Comparitive Literature
The purpose of this workshop is to present strategies for writing a conference paper from scratch or transforming an already existing document to fit a particular call for papers. From titles to opening up for questions, we will discuss different methods for preparing an engaging and substantive oral presentation, including various technological aids you may want to use.
Thursday, August 6th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 5, Student Activities Center (3rd floor) (map)

Presenting Data Visually: From Figures to Conference Posters
Mac Marston, Archaeology
This workshop is for graduate students in the social, biological, or physical sciences who are working on theses, dissertations, journal articles, or conference presentations. We will discuss how to choose between alternative visual methods for presenting quantitative information, how to balance image and text, how best to format charts and graphs, and how to create effective and compelling conference posters.
Wednesday, August 12th, 4:00-5:30pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

How to Write an Abstract: Concrete Recommendations
Kip Austin Hinton, Education
 This session will help any graduate student write the abstracts required for journal articles, conference papers, and fellowship applications. We will consider the elements of convincing abstracts in various disciplines. Then, you will assemble your own abstract, piece by piece. For speakers of other languages, strategies for English-language abstracts will be analyzed. Please bring a draft of your article or paper for this hands-on workshop.
Friday, August 14th, 12:00-2:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

An Introduction to Publishing Journal Articles
Jeannine Murray-Román, Comparative Literature
Thinking about preparing an article manuscript for submission? Based on Wendy Belcher's workbook, Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks, this workshop will focus on the aspects of the process of getting an article published that most differ from other graduate work, such as selecting appropriate journals and interacting with editors. We will discuss how to structure an article, focusing on appropriate argumentation and literature reviews as well as the revision process, both prior and subsequent to submission.
Wednesday, August 19th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

How to Write a Teaching Philosophy Statement
John Taborn, Associate Director, UCLA Career Center
Jeannine Murray-Román, Comparative Literature
Teaching philosophy statements are used in applications and academic portfolios for fellowship, grants and academic jobs. This workshop presents the various components that constitute a statement of teaching philosophy from a career perspective and explores the various approaches to how to write about your teaching. Come and learn about this early in your graduate student career!
Wednesday, August 26th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Writing Successful Grant and Fellowship Applications
Mac Marston, Archaeology (NSF Graduate Fellow, 2003-2007; NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, 2008)
This workshop focuses on strategies for writing effective applications for grants and fellowships to support graduate study and research, especially for students seeking doctorates and research MAs. We will discuss approaches common to the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, as well as specific suggestions for each academic area. Finally, we will briefly introduce major funding opportunities for graduate study from both UCLA and off-campus funding agencies.
Thursday, September 3rd, 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
 Mac Marston, Archaeology (NSF Graduate Fellow, 2003-2007; NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant, 2008)
This workshop will discuss strategies for applying for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. Open to US citizens in the Social, Biological, and Physical Sciences, this highly competitive fellowship provides three years of fellowship funding to successful applicants. The workshop will focus on the merit criteria for NSF grants, the structure of the proposal, suggestions for writing style, and technical details of Fastlane submission.
Wednesday, September 9th, 1:30-3:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Dissertation Workshops

Getting Started on the Dissertation: How to Get Going and Keep Going
 Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
This workshop gives an overview of organization, time management, writing process issues and writing strategies. Recommended for people in the early stages of the dissertation, but useful for all stages.
Wednesday, July 1st, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

Dissertation Writing Strategies for ESL Graduate Students
Netta Avineri, Applied Linguistics & TESL
In this interactive workshop, ESL graduate students will learn strategies to get through the dissertation process. In addition, we will discuss useful on-campus, online, and print resources that will help students to work independently to improve their writing. There will also be time for questions and answers about ESL writing issues and concerns.
Thursday, July 9th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 5, Student Activities Center (3rd floor) (map)

Revision Workshop: Strategies for Revising Longer Texts
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
This workshop will be a hands-on workshop to give people ideas and strategies for how to revise longer texts, such as master's theses, dissertation chapters or proposals. Please bring a hard copy of your own work, at least 15-20 double-spaced pages (more is fine). If you would like to do some of the preparation work ahead of time, start working on a backwards outline by tagging each paragraph with a phrase describing its main point.
Thursday, July 23rd, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 5, Student Activities Center (3rd floor) (map)

Overcoming Procrastination
Dr. Alan Nagamoto, Student Psychological Services
Dr. Nagamoto oversees the dissertation support groups at Student Psychological Services and has years of experience working with graduate students. He will explain how to overcome some of the major pitfalls common to dissertators and graduate stuents more generally.
Wednesday, August 5th, 4:00-6:00
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)

ESL Workshops

Dissertation Writing Strategies for ESL Graduate Students
Netta Avineri, Applied Linguistics & TESL
In this interactive workshop, ESL graduate students will learn strategies to get through the dissertation process. In addition, we will discuss useful on-campus, online, and print resources that will help students to work independently to improve their writing. There will also be time for questions and answers about ESL writing issues and concerns.
Thursday, July 9th, 4:00-6:00pm
Location: Conference Room 5, Student Activities Center (3rd floor) (map)

How to Write an Abstract: Concrete Recommendations
Kip Austin Hinton, Education
 This session will help any graduate student write the abstracts required for journal articles, conference papers, and fellowship applications. We will consider the elements of convincing abstracts in various disciplines. Then, you will assemble your own abstract, piece by piece. For speakers of other languages, strategies for English-language abstracts will be analyzed. Please bring a draft of your article or paper for this hands-on workshop.
Friday, August 14th, 12:00-2:00pm
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) (map)