Thesis/Dissertation Week: Writing Your Way into Your Research

If you're looking for group accountability and time to write with other Mason graduate students who are also serious about making progress on their writing goals, sign up for this Friday's Write-In with the Writing Center. Writers bring their coffee, a set of goals, and a commitment to join the group on time and remain for the entire session. We begin with a short conversation about goals and end with a short wrap-up on accomplishments. The remaining time is dedicated to writing. A Writing Center consultant is present to coordinate the session and to take consultations.

Sally Evans, UDTS Coordinator, will walk you through the Interactive Template, which can be found here: http://library.gmu.edu/udts/resources#templates. Many of our graduate students who are writing theses and dissertations find this template useful when preparing their documents for the mandatory Format Review. You are not required to use this template, but if you are interested in learning more about it, then please attend this workshop.

Literature reviews are an important and often necessary part of graduate-level writing and research, but the process and strategies used to write lit reviews can sometimes seem elusive or mysterious. This workshop takes the mystery out of lit reviews by offering strategies for both structuring and writing them. Prepare to leave with a clearer sense of how these organizational strategies can help you navigate and write lit reviews in your discipline.

This session will provide you with strategies for managing large projects such as research projects, community service events, and dissertations. Learn how to define the scope of your project, identify resources, create a timeline, and keep everything organized.

Rewarding and exciting as it can be, writing at the graduate level is often synonymous with stress. In this workshop, we offer mindful writing as a means of easing the stress and fatigue of grad writing. Prepare to leave with mindful writing practices and resources you can use in your thinking, writing, and researching.

This panel brings together faculty from Mason's graduate faculty, representing the different colleges and fields of study. Panelists will be asked questions along the line of what they wished candidates (both MA/MS and PhD) knew about post-coursework (going into their exams/thesis/diss/final projects). They will be giving discipline/field specific advice about generating/producing your research question for the project you'll be doing.