Workshops & Institutes

This page contains descriptions of workshops and institutes for graduate students. They have been contributed by CGC members and are curated by Andrea Olinger. Please consider submitting information for your program by emailing info@gradconsortium.org.

The Course Syllabi page also includes some descriptions of short courses (e.g., three-day or four-week courses).

University of Texas at San Antonio’s Graduate Writing Institute
Coordinator: Amanda Williams (Amanda.Williams1 at utsa.edu)

• Week-long institutes offered during spring break and in May to help graduate students complete large writing projects, including seminar papers, theses, and dissertations.
• For a published evaluation of the institute (and description of the daily activities), read Thomas, M., Williams, A., & Case, J. (2014). The Graduate Writing Institute: Overcoming risk, embracing strategies, and appreciating skills. The Learning Assistance Review 19(1), 69-98.

University of Arizona’s Graduate Writing Institute
Coordinator: Dr. Leslie Dupont (Ldupont at email.arizona.edu)

• Three-week intensive summer institute for domestic and international ESL/EFL graduate students. Students can apply at any stage of their graduate work
• Materials shared: program overview, an old and revised curriculum, and two central handouts (“Non-Evaluative Response Techniques” and “Guide to Successful Writing Groups”)
• The Writing Skills Improvement Program, of which the GWI is a part, also offers writing groups, workshops, and individual tutoring for graduate students

Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, Successful Transitions Program for Chinese Postgraduates in Media and Communication
Contact: Linda Butcher, Murdoch University (L dot Butcher at murdoch.edu.au) or Dr. Fiona Henderson, Victoria University (Fiona dot Henderson at vu.edu.au)

• Resources for lecturers and students in China and Australia funded by a governmental program to help Chinese students transition successfully into postgraduate studies in communication and media in Australia.
• Some universities offer a five-day pre-sessional program; others fold the individual modules into courses in the disciplines (e.g., Student Learning Centre lecturers may be invited into a course to give a few workshops).
• The Briefing Notes for Lecturers in China and Australia are cultural explanations and background to rationalise the project. They could be used more widely for intercultural professional development of university staff.
• The Resources for Lecturers in Media and Communication are designed with some quite explicit instructions so that discipline lecturers who are not familiar with academic language and learning can still pick up and use these materials.
• The Pre-Sessional Program Resources were developed for academic development/academic literacies/EAL/ESL teachers. There is some overlap with the resources for media and communication lecturers.