Winter Dissertation Writing Mini-Retreat, January 2018

The University Writing Center, in partnership with the Graduate Student Council, announces its first Winter Dissertation Writing Mini-Retreat. We encourage all writers currently working on their dissertations to apply. In past retreats, we have worked with writers representing a range of disciplines from Public Health to Engineering to Social Work to Humanities. Some of these writers had just begun writing, some were in the middle of their writing projects, and others were getting close to completing their dissertations. Regardless of where they were in the process, all the participants made progress on their dissertations and left with a set of writing strategies to help them maintain their momentum on their projects. If you want to read about how the participants from last year thought the retreat helped them, take a look at this post from our Writing Center blog.

The retreat will be held on January 20 and 27 from 9 a.m. -12 p.m each Saturday in the University Writing Center in Ekstrom Library. Writers will have the option of continuing to work in the Writing Center during its normal Saturday hours, from 1-4 p.m. Participants will spend the morning writing and have a one-hour consultation each week with a Writing Center consultant. We will continue to hold our week-long retreat in May and will post more information about it in February.

The Winter Dissertation Writing Mini-Retreat is organized by the University Writing Center with support from the UofL Graduate Student Council. There is no fee for participating.  Participants must commit to attending both Saturdays.

Applications are due by Dec. 6, 2017, and must include:
1.    A letter detailing the participant’s reasons for applying to the retreat and goals for the week.
2.    A letter of support written by the writer’s adviser/director.
3.    Documents that outline the dissertation project, such as a drafts, proposals, or abstracts.
Submit completed applications to

Completed applications will be considered, and accepted, in the order in which they are received. There are eight openings for the Winter retreat. Once those openings are filled, other applicants will be placed on a wait list.

If you have questions about the retreat, contact the University Writing Center at 502-852-2173 or .