The Graduate Writing Center will hold several programs this summer to help people who are at the dissertation and dissertation proposal stages. The programs will meet once a week (2-3 hour meetings, depending on the program) for six weeks in either Summer Session A or Summer Session C. Plan to participate and have a productive summer!
Please Note: Participation requires submitting an application by the deadline indicated for the program because space is limited and we need to make sure participants are eligible and ready.
Additional Note: For guidance concerning field-specific issues, it is best if participants are able to consult faculty advisors/mentors during the course of these programs.
Eligibility: Our summer programs do not require formal registration during the summer, but you be a registered graduate student during spring 2008 and be at the appropriate stage for the program to which you apply.
DISSERTATION BOOT CAMPS (Summer Session A, June 23 – August 1)
(Applications are closed)
1) Dissertation Chapter Boot Camp (Humanities Focus)
2) Dissertation Results Chapter Boot Camp (Social Sciences & Sciences Focus)
3) Master's Thesis Writing Groups
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL BOOT CAMPS (Summer Session C, August 4 – September 12)
(We still have room in the humanities and sciences/engineering sections.)
1) Dissertation Prospectus Boot Camp (Humanities Focus)
2) Dissertation Proposal Boot Camp (Social Sciences Focus) (The social sciences section is full.)
3) Dissertation Proposal Boot Camp (Sciences & Engineering Focus)
DISSERTATION BOOT CAMPS
(Summer Session C, August 4 – September 12)
1) DISSERTATION CHAPTER BOOT CAMP (Humanities Focus)
Jeannine Murray-Román, PhD, Comparative Literature
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
This program targets humanities graduate students who have recently advanced to candidacy and are beginning to write the first chapter of their dissertation (which need not be chapter one, but rather the first chapter one launches into, and preferably not the introduction.) The program will teach writing strategies and provide structure to help people produce a draft of their first dissertation chapter. Graduate students from social science fields who use humanities approaches, such as textually-oriented historians and political science students who focus on political philosophy, may also apply to this program. This program will meet Mondays, 1:00-3:30pm for the six weeks of Summer Session A (June 23rd - July 28th).
How to Apply for the Dissertation Chapter Boot Camp
Interested graduate students need to fill out an application linked here, and return it electronically (to gwc@gsa.asucla.ucla.edu) by no later than Friday, May 30th. Please be sure to put “humanities dissertation boot camp” in the subject line of the email.
Preparation for the Dissertation Chapter Boot Camp (for those accepted)
First Session Homework: Participants must bring a 300-500 word dissertation abstract, a rough chapter outline, organized notes on the dissertation chapter’s primary sources, and a bibliography of all chapter-relevant secondary sources (append annotations when applicable/helpful).
Homework for Subsequent Sessions: Each session after the first will require five to ten pages of new writing. There may also be other reading and homework assignments to reinforce writing skills and strategies.
Required Text: Joan Bolker. Writing A Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. 1998.
Please purchase the required text before the first meeting of the program.
2) DISSERTATION RESULTS CHAPTER BOOT CAMP (Social Sciences & Sciences)
Ellen Stolzenberg, PhD, Education
Marilyn Gray, Graduate Writing Center Coordinator
This program targets social sciences and sciences graduate students who have defended their proposals, completed the majority of their research and data analysis and are ready to write the results and discussion chapters. (Note: This program is more appropriate for students writing a traditional rather than an article-based dissertation.) This program will meet Tuesdays, 9:30-noon for the six weeks of Summer Session A (June 24th - July 29th).
How to Apply for the Dissertation Results Chapter Boot Camp
Interested graduate students need to fill out the application linked here and return it electronically (to gwc@gsa.asucla.ucla.edu) by no later than Friday, May 30th. Please be sure to put “dissertation results boot camp” in the subject line of the email.
Preparation for the Dissertation Results Chapter Boot Camp (for those accepted)
First Session Homework: For the first session, participants must bring a 300-500 word abstract and a fairly detailed outline of the results chapter (though we recognize that the outline may change as people write--we are mainly concerned that people have sufficiently analyzed their data so that they are really ready to write). Before the first session, read a dissertation recently completed in your department, preferably one chaired by your dissertation committee chair, and skim it to get a sense of structure and organization.
Homework for Subsequent Sessions: Each session after the first meeting will have a required writing assignment of a minimum of four to five pages of new writing. There may also be other required reading and homework assignments to reinforce writing skills and strategies.
Required Reading for First Session: Joan Bolker. Writing A Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day. 1998. {available at the UCLA bookstore or amazon.com} Skim the entire book, focusing on the parts that are useful to you. We recommend a more careful reading of chapters 3, 4 and 8.
Reading for Subsequent Sessions:
There will be additional readings that we will make available electronically.
