All Workshops

This workshop provides the roadmap for your research process over the next five weeks. We will discuss strategies for making steady progress on your project and revisit the resources available to you on campus. You will leave with a concrete timeline for completing your project and the toolkit to move from your current draft to a successful final product.

Wednesday, 3/13 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

Monday, 3/25 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

This workshop covers strategies for organizing your readings into a lit review that sings. We will discuss concrete tools for organizing your sources’ arguments and putting your project in conversation with scholars in your field. You will come away with the know-how to generate a strong lit review - one that reveals the significance, originality, and potential of your research.

Wednesday, 3/20 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

Tuesday, 3/26 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

This workshop offers strategies for refining your research question and paper organization to reflect the shifting terrain of your project. We will review the qualities of an intellectually significant research question, as well as strategies for plotting your chapters and presenting your findings in a coherent and concise manner. You will leave with a clearer understanding of the overall direction of your research, and a renewed sense of focus to complete your project.

Wednesday, 3/27 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

This workshop is designed to get your writing juices flowing. We will cover creative strategies for sustaining your stamina and renewing your energy when working on a long-term writing project. Whether you are 5, 20, or 50 pages into your thesis, you will come away with the tools to stay inspired, focused, and motivated as you enter the last weeks of your project.

Wednesday, 4/3 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

This workshop covers strategies for cultivating your critical eye to improve your paper. You will acquire the tools to deepen your analysis, bolster your organization, and enliven your writing. Whether you are incorporating your advisor’s feedback or restructuring an entire chapter, you will come away with an enhanced understanding that writing is rewriting and that the best way to strengthen your research is through revision. 

Wednesday, 4/17 || 12PM-1PM || RSVP to receive the Zoom link!  (bmail login required)

Writer Hours is a writer-friendly working space that will give you the support you need to stay focused and get your reading, research, and writing done! Writing in community is a great way to boost focus, enhance productivity, improve time management, and increase consistency in your writing process. Join us for all or part of the time to kickstart your writing process or strengthen it while building connections with writers on similar journeys. We guarantee you’ll come away with a sense of accomplishment and the momentum to take on your capstone project!

May 2024 Schedule:

• Wed. 5/1 || 2:30PM-4:30PM || Virtual
• Thurs. 5/2 || 2:30PM-4:30PM || Virtual
• Fri. 5/3 || 1PM-3PM || Hybrid: Virtual & 151 Chávez
• Tues. 5/7 || 12PM-2PM || Hybrid: Virtual & 151 Chávez
• Wed. 5/7 || 12PM-2PM || Hybrid: Virtual & 151 Chávez

If interested in our Writer Hours, RSVP to receive the Zoom link (bmail login required)!

The thesis statement is the heart of the academic essay: It identifies your main argument, informs the reader of the purpose of your essay, controls and focuses your discussion, and gives your paper a clear sense of direction. In this hands-on workshop, we will unpack key components of a thesis statement and practice the tools to construct an effective statement from scratch.

In this workshop, we will unpack key structural elements of the academic essay and practice the tools to construct a solid paper. You will come away with a renewed appreciation for paragraphing and an enhanced ability to organize your ideas.

In this workshop, we will discuss the centrality of revision to the writing process and present concrete strategies for improving your paper. You will come away with your critical eye activated and the ability to apply your critical eye to your paper. You will become more adept at balancing complexity with nuance, creativity with precision, and simplicity with clarity.

Come engage in hands-on, fun-filled activities to further strengthen your grasp of grammar - from sentence structure to punctuation! Whether you are a speaker of one or several languages, you will benefit from [re]acquainting yourself with many of the rules that shape and enrich English-language writing.

Come explore quick strategies for polishing your paper when you don’t have the luxury of time! Find out how you can spot careless errors and implement quick changes to elevate your writing.

This workshop will get you started on your research project. We will cover faculty expectations of research at Cal, walk through the general structure of a research paper, and explore the resources available to student researchers on campus. From the Deep Web to the Main Stacks, you will acquire the know-how to navigate the research process at Cal. Whether you’re eager to get started or unsure how to begin, you will leave the session with a realistic and accomplishable action plan that will keep you engaged and on-track to finish strong.

This workshop offers strategies for bringing your research project into sharper focus. We will discuss qualities of a feasible research project, and explore elements of an intellectually significant research question. Whether you are overflowing with ideas or still looking for inspiration, you will come away with an enhanced understanding of how to choose your subject, identify your audience, focus your research effort, and come up with your research question.

Engaging with primary and secondary sources is integral to the research process. It informs your scholarly voice, shapes the direction of your research, and strengthens your claim. This workshop provides you concrete strategies for analyzing and making meaning of your sources. You will come away with a healthy dose of scholarly skepticism and the skills to discern the validity and rigor of scientific evidence. Ultimately, you will understand how evidence can be used to convince the reader of your claim.

This workshop is designed to get your writing juices flowing. We will cover strategies for transforming your findings and observations into a coherent, well-supported, and well-written research paper. You will discover creative ways to stay committed to the writing process and allow your vision to materialize. Whether you’re still brainstorming or already working on a draft, you will come away with a sound structure for your paper, a clear plan of action, and a renewed motivation to reach the finish line.

Now that you have turned in your research proposal, analyzed your primary and secondary sources, and produced a draft of your research paper, you could benefit from a discerning reader to help you strengthen your work. This hands-on workshop provides you with concrete strategies for becoming your own discerning reader. You will come to appreciate revision as an integral, and rewarding, part of the writing process, and will leave with the tools to bolster your critical eye, strengthen your organization, and enliven your writing.

This workshop provides the roadmap for your research process over the next five weeks. We will discuss strategies for making steady progress on your project and revisit the resources available to you on campus. You will leave with a concrete timeline for completing your project and the toolkit to move from your current draft to a successful final product.

This workshop covers strategies for organizing your readings into a lit review that sings. We will discuss concrete tools for organizing your sources’ arguments and putting your project in conversation with scholars in your field. You will come away with the know-how to generate a strong lit review - one that reveals the significance, originality, and potential of your research.

This workshop offers strategies for refining your research question and paper organization to reflect the shifting terrain of your project. We will review qualities of an intellectually significant research question, as well as strategies for plotting your chapters and presenting your findings in a coherent and concise manner. You will leave with a clearer understanding of the overall direction of your research, and a renewed sense of focus to complete your project. 

This workshop is designed to get your writing juices flowing. We will cover creative strategies for sustaining your stamina and renewing your energy when working on a long-term writing project. Whether you are 5, 20, or 50 pages into your thesis, you will come away with the tools to stay inspired, focused, and motivated as you enter the last weeks of your project.

This workshop covers strategies for cultivating your critical eye to improve your paper. You will acquire the tools to deepen your analysis, bolster your organization, and enliven your writing. Whether you are incorporating your advisor’s feedback or restructuring an entire chapter, you will come away with an enhanced understanding that writing is rewriting and that the best way to strengthen your research is through revision.