The Graduate School partners with the TWP Writing Studio to provide the Graduate Writing Lab (GWL) - a dedicated writing space for graduate students three days a week. Students can work alone or as part of small writing groups on their dissertations and other writing projects.
A graduate student consultant is available to provide brief, issue-based consultations; serve as an active listener or reader; and collect ideas about future workshops or programs that the lab might provide.
Topics addressed in one-on-one consultations and spontaneous groups discussions include:
- Technical-language Word Choice
- Clarity of Argument
- Responding to Faculty Feedback
- Genre Analysis for Dissertation Writing
- Organizing Research Sources
- Field-Specific Methodology
- Writing Journal Abstracts
- Clarity in Conference Presentations
- Writing Methods and Practices to Maximize Productivity
Testimonials
"During each 40-minute writing session, I was usually much more concentrated than...in the library or at home. Attending the lab made by day because it 'forced' me to spend the first three hours of my day on writing, which is the most important work for graduate students in humanities."
"The Graduate Student Writing Lab has been exceptionally helpful to me as a first year graduate student. The structured time for writing that it provides has boosted my productivity and is helping me develop good habits surrounding goal setting and project management. Furthermore, the group of people in the writing lab provide a positive support network that has made writing an intellectually stimulating community-based activity...Overall, the writing lab is helping me thrive at Duke and has helped bring out my best work."
"The reliability and accountability of other members kept me on task and on time. I'm proud to say that I finished my dissertation and defended this semester thanks to the new friends I made in the Graduate Writing Lab."