Graduate School

Dissertation Writing Retreat

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Dissertation Writing Retreat

The Dissertation Writing Retreat provides up to 19 participants with structure, time, and encouragement to make progress on their doctoral dissertations in the company of other writers.

dissertators in a group photo in front of a white board with writing on itThis in-person, week-long, writing retreat will provide dissertators with structure and community for productive dissertation writing.

Sponsors

The retreat is co-sponsored by the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and the Graduate School, and is led by Charles Carroll, Assistant Director of the Writing Center. Graduate students must apply to participate.

When

There will be a pre-retreat workshop on Zoom on Thursday, July 7 from 2-4 pm (required for all participants). The retreat will be held from Monday, July 11 through Friday, July 15, 2022, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Who can Apply?

All doctoral students who are in the process of writing their dissertations; that is, students who have had their dissertation proposals accepted and have sufficient research completed and/or data collected to proceed with writing. 

Apply online by June 17, 2022. The retreat can host up to 19 participants.

Apply Online

What is the Format?

Here is the schedule for a typical day during the retreat (the first and last days of the retreat will vary slightly):

  • 9:00-9:15 am: morning goal setting and cohort check-in
  • 9:15 am-noon: independent writing time
  • Noon-1 pm: lunch (some lunches will have programming related to dissertation writing, while others will be purely social).
  • 1-3:45 pm: afternoon cohort check-in

Where

5th Floor, Science Library

Expectations

  • Attend all five days of the retreat (9:30am - 4:00pm, Mon.-Fri.) and participate in all morning and afternoon group meetings. 
  • Take breaks as needed. We suggest stocking up on coffee and tea in preparation for the retreat!
  • Keep what happens during the retreat at the retreat. 

Questions

Contact Charles Carroll, Assistant Director of the Writing Center, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

Previous Retreaters have Experience

What previous retreaters have said about their experience

Goal setting is so important. I have been able to set a personal schedule for myself and learned how to adjust to the time of day and other commitments that compete with my time, while also feeling good about my progress because I learned to set realistic goals."

"I recognized that some days are great for deep work and some are not, and there is a need to roll with the punches accordingly.The retreat served as a needed reset for my usual writing plan

I enjoyed meeting other PhD students working on their dissertations. It's nice not to feel 'alone' during the writing process.

This retreat not only provided a supportive and helpful community, but also gave me a consistent schedule and space to work. What's more, due to the food and tea, I did not need to leave that space, but rather could concentrate that time to work. I also found the skills I learned from the other writers to be incredibly productive.

The deep work presentation and the recent dissertators presentations were the most useful! Also, the timing was really great (starting the week with deep work analysis and ending with the dissertators showing us it will get done!).

--Isabelle R. Notter, PhD candidate in Sociology