Workshop Catalog

The Writing Center @ MSU offers several workshops to support faculty, students, and the community. Take a look at the catalog below to determine which workshop(s) best supports your needs or request a customized workshop.

To request a workshop, fill out our Google Form at least 2 weeks in advance to allow time for processing. If requesting an in-person workshop, the instructor must be present or have a suitable substitute for the entirety of the workshop time. The amount of time a workshop can take varies depending on the instructor’s goals. Within each description below, we make time-related recommendations. In general, the more time a workshop is scheduled for, the more interactive it can be.

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. This workshop is most commonly scheduled for 30 minutes.

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. This workshop is commonly booked for 30-60 minutes.

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. This workshop is commonly scheduled for 30-45 minutes.

Plagiarism & Citation Workshop

This workshop defines and helps participants identify plagiarism according to MSU’s policies regarding Academic Integrity. As part of this workshop, presenters 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. This workshop is commonly scheduled for 30-45 minutes.

Introduction to Grant Writing Workshop

The 45-minute version of this workshop provides an overview of the overall grant writing process typical for seeking and applying for external grants. Facilitators break down the grant writing process into stages, highlighting grant application materials that grant sponsors may expect and require as part of the application process. The workshop ends with a look at practical and accessible resources grant seekers can draw from to guide them through grant writing processes.

The 60-minute version of this workshop begins with inviting participants to reflect on and identify their goals for the project that they are seeking to fund with grants. From there, facilitators overview the overall grant writing process typical for seeking and applying for external grants. They then break down the grant writing process into stages, highlighting grant application materials that grant sponsors may expect and require as part of the application process. The workshop ends with a look at practical and accessible resources grant seekers can draw from to guide them through grant writing processes.

The 90-minute version of this workshop begins with inviting participants to reflect on and identify their goals for the project that they are seeking to fund with grants. From there, facilitators overview the overall grant writing process typical for seeking and applying for external grants. They then break down the grant writing process into stages, highlighting grant application materials that grant sponsors may expect and require as part of the application process. The workshop ends with a look at practical and accessible resources grant seekers can draw from to guide them through grant writing processes.