Presenting Skills

• Defending Your Dissertation (or Thesis)

  Defending your dissertation is your opportunity to tell the world about your work. Strengthen your communication skills by learning how to appear confident, answer questions appropriately, engage with your audience, and more. 

• Polishing Your Presentations

  Learn how to develop and deliver dynamic, engaging presentations. This three-hour session covers presentation organization and formats, verbal and non-verbal communication tips, vocal techniques, PowerPoint design and use, and more.

Studying & Planning

• Feedback: Giving It, Receiving It, and Implementing It

  Is it difficult to give, receive, and implement academic feedback in Professor/Supervisor/Committee meetings, papers, seminars, research groups, reading critiques, and/or clinical settings? Learn an practice techniques for effective speaking and listening to advocate efficiently in academic environments.
  

• Managing Major Projects

  Balancing your coursework, research, projects, and personal life can be difficult. Learn practical scheduling strategies to help you become more productive and less stressed, as well as strategies for dealing with procrastination.

• Reading Research Papers (companion to Writing Literature Review)

  Need to sort through numerous research papers and remember them? Learn to become effective in your reading, manage multiple sources, and make the most of your time and effort. 

• Sessions for Accountability and Study Strategies (SASS)

  These weekly, small group sessions give students the opportunity to apply high-impact strategies directly to their coursework, make progress on assignments, and maintain motivation—all with the guidance of a Learning Specialist.
  
  Dates: Thursdays Sept. 12 - Dec. 5, 2019
  Time: 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
  Cost: $60
  Register Now

  View SASS sessions for undergraduate students.

Writing Skills

• Crafting a Thesis or Dissertation Proposal

  Feeling intimidated by the task of preparing a thesis proposal for your Master’s or PhD supervisory committee? Learn strategies that will help you to produce a clear, coherent, and persuasive proposal.
  

• Getting into the Writing Groove

  Have you ever returned to your thesis and felt overwhelmed by a pile of notes or a string of disconnected thoughts? Learn strategies for getting into the writing groove when revising a chapter, incorporating feedback, starting a chapter, or even shifting directions. Also learn about Write-In and other strategies to stay on track.

• Thesis Writing Strategies: A Thesis Writer's Workshop (5 weeks)

  This five-part course helps writers to develop effective thesis chapters. We read examples from the field, workshop students’ own drafts, and discuss principles of editing and project management.
  

  Dates: Thursdays, Oct. 31–Dec. 5, 2019
  Times: 1:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m.
  Cost: $90
  Register Now

• Thesis Writing Strategies: Getting Started on Your Thesis (4 weeks)

  This four-part course provides practical strategies for making the early stages of writing less stressful: by choosing an effective structure for a thesis, engaging readers’ interest early, and framing the thesis effectively. Open to writers in all fields.

• Writing a Literature Review (companion to Reading Research Papers)

  Having difficulty writing about others’ work without sounding redundant? Craft an effective literature review chapter for a thesis/dissertation in the social sciences. Writers in other disciplines may benefit. 

• Writing an Effective Funding Proposal

  Tackling that funding proposal but unsure of how to present your request? Learn strategies to increase the probability of positive responses to your scholarship or funding proposal.

• Writing Your Thesis or Dissertation in Two Pages a Day

  You can write your thesis or dissertation in as little as two pages a day. Learn strategies for breaking your writing up into chunks (otherwise known as short sections.) We will discuss how to use these blocks of text to build a chapter.