Workshop Catalog

The Writing Center @ MSU offers several workshops to support faculty, students, and the community. Take a look at the catalog below to find which workshops best support your needs. 

To request a workshop, please fill out the Workshop Request Form at least 2 weeks in advance to allow time for processing. 

Note: If requesting an in-person workshop, the instructor must be present or have a suitable substitute in place

Please fill out our Google Form to request a workshop for your class. Please note, you must be physically present in the classroom for the entirity of the workshop time. 

Take a look at the catalog below to find which workshops best support your needs or request a customized workshop.

Introduction to The Writing Center

This short workshop provides a quick overview of the center, describing who we are, what we offer, and what writers should expect during consultations. Specifically, presenters discuss our range of services, such as our one-on-one consultations and different writing groups, as well as the process of scheduling appointments. 

The Writing Process Workshop

This workshop introduces participants to the varied ways people approach writing, debunking the notion that everyone’s writing process adheres to a strictly linear and clear path. As part of this workshop, presenters ask participants to map their writing process, considering how and when they write best. The goal of this workshop is to build participants’ awareness of their own process in the hopes that reflecting and visualizing on their process will offer them insight into how they can best set themselves up to write in the future.

Framing Feedback Workshop (previously called Peer Review/Response)

This workshop outlines strategies people can use to provide others generative feedback on works-in-progress. As part of this workshop, presenters describe and define peer review/response and use examples to illustrate the difference between generative feedback and destructive criticism. This workshop concludes with additional resources to aid people in providing feedback to others either in on-on-one settings or in small groups. 

Plagiarism & Citation Workshop

This workshop defines and helps participants identify plagiarism according to MSU’s policies regarding Academic Integrity. As part of this workshop, presentors review academic writing as a conversation and the ways sources and citations help writers contribute larger conversations within a field or discipline. Presenters also discuss cultures of citation and citation politics to emphasize the importance of giving credit to sources, authors, scholars, artists, and peers.

Digital Video Workshop

This workshop focuses on video as a composing tool and skill. Presenters discuss moving images, audio (voiceovers, music and sound effects), titles, and transitions. The goal of this workshop is to familiarize participants with the decisions that go into video-making, as well as offer a place to play and experiment using tools, such as script writing and storyboarding, while making their own movies, regardless of which platform they use.

Grad School Statements Workshop

This workshop provides an overview of the two common essay components of graduate school applications: personal statements and statements of purpose. Facilitators describe each statement’s key features, discuss important distinctions, and address some common pitfalls and how to avoid them. Participants learn about the grad school application process and how to successfully contextualize their values, skills, and experiences within their broader academic and professional goals.