Workshops - Winter 2025
The Graduate Writing Center offers a wide variety of writing workshops, ranging from general to more specialized topics. We also provide information on selected campus offices that provide assistance with research, data management, and data analysis.
All workshops are conducted on Zoom unless otherwise noted.
General Workshops
Introduction to the GRM, GSRM
Ebony Oldham, Gender Studies, Graduate Writing Consultant
Victoria Tran, Sociology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will explain best practices for writing the essay component of the Graduate Research Mentorship (GRM) and Graduate Summer Research Mentorship (GSRM) fellowships that are reviewed and awarded by the UCLA Division of Graduate Education. After a presentation, the workshop facilitators and additional writing consultants who have received these fellowships will be available to answer questions.
Time Details: Tuesday, January 14th, 5:15-6:30 PM [Rescheduled]
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Strategic Reading
Victoria Tran, Sociology, Graduate Writing Consultant
Feeling overwhelmed by your reading lists? Concerned that you are missing the point of what you have just read? Are you taking pages of notes for every article you read? This workshop will cover effective reading and note-taking strategies so that you read more efficiently, assess your reading with a critical eye, and annotate each work so that important concepts are easily accessible. Note: This workshop does not teach speed-reading techniques.
Time Details: Thursday, January 16th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Introduction to Policy Writing
Jessica Cobian, Political Science Graduate Writing Consultant
This presentation is an introduction to writing in policy-related fields such as public policy. This overview focuses on writing memos and white papers and discusses considerations such as writing for a particular audience, best practices for writing memos and white papers, and resources available for additional help with these genres.
Time Details: Thursday, January 23rd, 5:15-6:15 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Project Organization for Writing
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
In this workshop, we will discuss how to set up an organized system for a large-scale research and writing project, especially the writing components.
Time Details: Wednesday, January 29th, 12:30-1:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Time Management and Productivity Tips for Writing
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
In this workshop, we will discuss effective strategies for time management, goal setting, and productivity when conducting large-scale research and writing projects, especially for the writing components.
Time Details: Wednesday, January 29th, 5:15-6:15 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Strategies for Writing Longer Literature Reviews
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
This workshop will cover strategies for writing longer literature reviews for theses, dissertations, proposals, and review papers. The workshop will also address organizational approaches and writing process issues.
Time Details: Tuesday, February 11th, 5:15-6:30 PM (TBC)
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Mindful Writing Retreat Sessions (Online)
Marilyn Gray, Director, Graduate Writing Center
The mindful writing retreat will integrate simple techniques from mindfulness to support the writing process and cultivate an approach to writing that fosters balance, self-care, and well-being. Please bring a current writing project because much of the retreat time will be allocated for writing. All sessions will be conducted remotely via zoom.
1) Monday, February 24th, 1:30 PM-4:00 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
2) Monday, March 3rd, 1:30 PM-4:00 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
3) Monday, March 10th, 10:00 AM-12:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Humanities Writing Workshops
Getting Started on the Master's Thesis (Humanities and Social Science focus)
Amelia Ino, Comparative Literature, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
Janel Pineda, Chicana/o and Central American Studies, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
This workshop will give an overview of how to write a master's thesis or project of similar length (like a qualifying paper) for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. It will include writing activities and discussion to help participants develop their thesis topics. We will also present strategies for organizing research and literature reviews, as well as tips for drafting and revision.
Time Details: Thursday, February 6th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Strategies for Writing the Humanities Dissertation Prospectus
Lika Balenovich, Comparative Literature, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
This workshop is geared towards giving prospectus writers the tools to write their prospectus over the course of two months. We will discuss literature review and argument development as well as how to turn the many different pieces of a prospectus into a coherent document. Please note: this is meant to be an addition to--not a substitution for--serious discussions with your advisor about what is expected of you in your home department.
Time Details: Wednesday, February 26th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Social Sciences Writing Workshops
Getting Started on the Master's Thesis (Humanities and Social Science focus)
Amelia Ino, Comparative Literature, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
Janel Pineda, Chicana/o and Central American Studies, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
This workshop will give an overview of how to write a master's thesis or project of similar length (like a qualifying paper) for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. It will include writing activities and discussion to help participants develop their thesis topics. We will also present strategies for organizing research and literature reviews, as well as tips for drafting and revision.
Time Details: Thursday, February 6th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Strategies for Writing the Social Sciences Dissertation Proposal
Leezet Matos, Psychology, Graduate Writing Consultant
Andrew Malmuth, Sociology, Graduate Writing Center Consultant
Victoria Tran, Sociology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will give an overview of the main components of a dissertation proposal in the social sciences and cover strategies for writing the research questions, literature review, and methods sections, as well as some tips for getting through this sometimes daunting process. (These strategies should be adapted to your department's and advisor's expectations about the structure and content of your proposal.) If you have preliminary drafts of an abstract or research questions, please bring them.
Time Details: Thursday, February 20th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Science and Engineering Writing Workshops
Getting Started on the Master's Thesis (STEM Focus)
Marie Payne, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will give an overview of how to write a master's thesis for students in STEM fields. It will include writing activities and discussion to help participants develop their thesis topics. We will also present strategies for organizing research and literature reviews, as well as tips for drafting and revision.
Time Details: Tuesday, February 4th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Strategies for Writing the STEM Dissertation Proposal
Aidan Howenstine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop, geared toward students in STEM fields, will cover dissertation proposal structures and components, as well as writing process strategies and time management. In addition, we will address issues related to the oral defense portion of the proposal.
Time Details: Wednesday, February 12th, 5:15-6:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
ESL Workshops
Writing Strategies for International Students
Amelia Ino, Comparative Literature, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop covers specifics of English communication in academic and professional settings with an emphasis on resources and self-editing skills for second language writers. We will discuss expectations for citation in the U.S. and ways to avoid plagiarism. We will address email etiquette in academic and professional communication. We will also discuss strategies and resources for improving English grammar, word choice, and style.
Time Details: Wednesday, January 15th, 5:15-6:15 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
For relevant workshop videos, go to:
https://gwc.gsrc.ucla.edu/workshop-videos#esl_workshops
Grants/Fellowships Workshops
Introduction to the GRM, GSRM
Ebony Oldham, Gender Studies, Graduate Writing Consultant
Victoria Tran, Sociology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will explain best practices for writing the essay component of the Graduate Research Mentorship and Graduate Summer Research Mentorship fellowships that are reviewed and awarded by the UCLA Division of Graduate Education. After a presentation, the workshop facilitators and additional writing consultants who have received these fellowships will be available to answer questions.
Time Details: Thursday, January 9th, 5:15-6:30 PM (TBC - description)
RSVP on Handshake to receive a Zoom invitation
Writing the Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant Application
Jessie Stoolman, Wenner Gren Recipient, Anthropology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop will introduce students to the application process for the Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. We will provide strategies for addressing the application's various prompts and review examples of successful applications.
Time Details: Thursday, March 6th, 4:30-5:30 PM
RSVP on Handshake to receive an invitation
General introductory fellowship workshop videos
Statistical Support and Consultation
For support with statistics, please see the statistical support website of the Office of Advanced Research and Computing. Graduate students are eligible for (remote) statistical consulting services on theses, dissertations, and journal publications (projects that are not coursework).
Research Workshops at the Library
To see the most complete, current schedule of UCLA Library advanced research workshops, consult the UCLA Library research workshop page.
Research Guides
Online research guides link to key resources and reference books for certain courses and disciplines. Subject guides, course guides, and general research guides are available.
Research Appointments
Graduate students are encouraged to contact the Library's subject specialists for more specialized and personalized assistance with research, library resources, and subject databases; find a complete list of all subject specialists here.
Copyright Questions
Contact the Library's copyright experts for assistance with copyright, publishing, intellectual property, and other related issues at copyright@library.ucla.edu.