Workshops for Graduate Students

The workshopping experience is integral to excellent scholarship. At the center, we focus on creating spaces where graduate student work is the primary focus, rather than at the periphery, and where graduate students can convene across disciplines and gain insights from one another, about the production of academic writing, the institutional strategizing required to manage a dissertation to completion and the array of methods for connecting to wider publics.

Check this page for a continuously updated list of the humanities center’s periodic workshop and other special offerings, both standalone and tied to the center’s events, for graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Below are workshops and opportunities for the 2024–25 academic year.

Limited Event

Where to Start? A Public Humanities Primer for Graduate Students

Friday, February 21, McMillan Cafe

The spring 2025 RDE workshop for graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences will focus on the public humanities. Through a series of workshops and sessions led by scholar practitioners and members of key foundations (MLA, ACLS) supporting public humanities research and collaboration, students will gain exposure to public humanities methods and projects that will inspire and ignite their own project designs. They will also learn the value and importance of research collaborations with communities and organizations outside of the university and discuss how — and why — to pursue meaningful collaborative projects as a part of doctoral training.

This workshop is designed for PhD graduate students in the humanities at any level; we especially encourage those earlier in their training to attend. Since a key goal for the workshop is to train students how to articulate the value of humanities skills and research to those outside of higher education, “Where to Start?” is an essential resource for any humanities student planning to pursue projects or future employment outside of higher education. 

Register here for the all-day workshop, which includes breakfast and lunch.

 

Crafting Your Humanities Resume Workshop

Thursday, February 27, 11 am, Virtual

You’ve diligently compiled your academic CV throughout your time as a graduate student, but now you realize this format won’t work for most jobs beyond the professoriate. Join this session to gain tips and insights on how to translate your research activities, teaching, and other traditional academic labors into skills and assets visible to a broader range of employers. We'll be joined by Derek Attig, Assistant Dean for Career & Professional Development in the Graduate College at the University of Illinois, who has written extensively on career planning for graduate students for Inside Higher Ed.

It’s never too early to plan your next move, so this session is open to grad students at any level.

 

ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship - Application Prep Workshop

Thursday, March 6, 12 pm, Virtual

This virtual workshop session is designed for later-career PhDs interested in applying to the ACLS's Leading Edge fellowship program, which places recent humanities PhDs into nonprofit organizations committed to promoting social justice in their communities. All interested grads are welcome to join in this virtual session, featuring former Leading Edge fellow Ashley Cheyemi McNeil, who was hired by her host organization and currently supervises another Leading Edge fellow in her work with Full Spectrum Features, a social justice oriented film production organization. Click here to RSVP!

NOTE to those applying to Leading Edge: Since the Leading Edge application process requires a humanities resumé (as opposed to a traditional scholarly CV), those interested in this session are also encouraged to attend our "Crafting Your Humanities Resume" workshop on February 27.

 

Past workshops

Ongoing

Scholarly Writing Retreat
The Scholarly Writing Retreat offers WashU humanities and humanistic social sciences faculty, postdocs and graduate students the opportunity to jump-start their summer writing in a motivated, supportive and collaborative atmosphere.

Humanities Graduate Student Writing Commons
During the academic year, all humanities and humanistic social sciences graduate student writers — at any stage — are welcome to join the Humanities Graduate Student Writing Commons. It’s an opportunity for quiet, focused writing alongside peers, providing community and accountability. Registration is required.

More opportunities for WashU graduate students

There are many more ways for graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to become involved with the Center for the Humanities. Click the button below to return to the Graduate webpage.

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