Winter 2020 Writing and Research Workshops

The Graduate Writing Center offers a wide variety of writing workshops, ranging from general to more specialized topics, such as academic genres, writing in certain disciplinary areas, or writing English as a Second Language. We also provide information on workshops and services from selected campus offices that provide assistance with research, data management, and data analysis. Special thanks to our campus programming partners: the UCLA Library, Writing Programs, the Institute for Digital Research and Education, Counseling and Psychological Services, and the Career Center.

Past Workshops

Workshop Videos

Humanities Writing Workshops

Getting Started on the Master's Thesis
Alana de Hinojosa, 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.
Tuesday, January 21st, 5:15-6:45 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Strategies for Writing the Humanities Dissertation Prospectus
Alana de Hinojosa, Chicana/o and Central American Studies, 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. Nota bene: 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.
Tuesday, February 18th, 5:15-7:00 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Writing a Literature Review in Social Sciences and Humanities
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
This workshop will cover strategies and best practices for writing a literature review, including note-taking strategies, writing process issues, and common organizational patterns. The workshop focus will be on literature reviews for original research projects but will be generally helpful for all literature reviews.
Tuesday, February 25th, 5:10-6:50 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Social Sciences Writing Workshops

Getting Started on the Master's Thesis
Alana de Hinojosa, Chicana & Chicano 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.
Tuesday, January 21st, 5:15-6:45 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Strategies for Writing the Social Sciences Dissertation Proposal
Adrienne Lynett, Graduate Writing Center Program Manager
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.
Thursday, February 6th, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Writing a Literature Review in Social Sciences and Humanities
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
This workshop will cover strategies and best practices for writing a literature review, including note-taking strategies, writing process issues, and common organizational patterns. The workshop focus will be on literature reviews for original research projects but will be generally helpful for all literature reviews.
Tuesday, February 25th, 5:10-6:50 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Science and Engineering Writing Workshops

Dissertation Proposal Workshop (STEM)
Macrina Cooper-White, Psychology, Graduate Writing Consultant
This workshop 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.
Tuesday, January 28th, 5:15-6:45
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Getting Started on the Master's Thesis (STEM Focus)
Macrina Cooper-White, Psychology, 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.
Thursday, February 20th, 5:15-6:45 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Writing a Literature Review in STEM
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Director
This workshop will cover strategies and best practices for writing a literature review or background section, including note-taking strategies, writing process issues, and common organizational patterns. The workshop focus will be on literature reviews for original research projects, such as research proposals and article manuscripts, but will generally be applicable to all literature reviews.
Thursday, February 27th, 5:10-6:50 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

ESL Workshops

Self-Editing Strategies for Non-Native Speakers of English
Adrienne Lynett, Graduate Writing Center Program Manager
This workshop will provide concrete strategies and online tools to enable non-native speakers of English to make appropriate vocabulary choices and approach issues like article and preposition usage in their own writing projects.
Thursday, January 30th, 5:10-6:50 p.m.
Location: Conference Room 4, Student Activities Center (basement level) ( map )

Statistical Software Workshops and Consultation

Current and former workshops may be found here.

For walk-in consulting information, Stat books for loan, and the most up-to-date listing of seminars, please see the Statistical Consulting Services web page of the Institute for Digital Research and Education.

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.

Click the link below for more information about the research and teaching support offered by the UCLA Library: http://www.library.ucla.edu/support

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.