Writing both shorter (forum posts, book reviews, and seminar papers) and longer pieces (dissertations and book-length manuscripts) is an integral part of any graduate program in the Humanities. Yet many candidates may find themselves completing these pursuits as an end point, rather than as part of a larger journey. Some, for example, may find the process too focused on traditional methods of publishing, while others may find themselves yearning to submit selected works to academic journals. As a result, researching and writing do not look or feel the same for everyone, and no single mentor can fulfill the needs of any single candidate or scholar.

In this seminar, participants will have the opportunity to interact with peer scholars at other institutions and to encounter future possibilities in their own and others’ scholarship. As a collective group, the seminar will consider each piece of writing as a point along a trajectory leading into knowledge production and dissemination. This will be accomplished through sharing pre-circulated work with peers and reading selected portions of this research during the seminar.

After each participant has read five to seven minutes of their chosen draft, the seminar will embark on a collaborative workshopping session during which panelists will hear feedback from scholarly experts and pinpoint optimal venues for publication and distribution. The seminar concludes with time for each individual to draft their own action plans for their shared piece of writing and for those research goals on the horizon.