Workshops
Workshops provide specific instruction regarding a variety of writing-related topics, from drafting to citation styles. These 30-45 minute sessions are available for undergraduate and graduate-level courses and student organizations at KU, conducted by trained writing consultants who seek to work with students at their point of need. Workshops are most valuable if students are working on a specific assignment at the time of the workshop.
Please read about our workshops and policies below before making your request. If you know which workshop you want to book, click the button below to make your request.
Workshop Policies
- KU faculty, staff, and student organizations can request workshops. Workshops should be for a group of students. If you are a student and would like to have a one-on-one conversation about one of these topics, schedule a writing consultation instead.
- Workshops can be scheduled during our regular consulting hours throughout the semester. We do our best to accommodate every request’s preferred date/time preferences; however, we will contact you if we’re unable to accommodate the requested time. If you want to request a workshop outside of our regular hours, please contact the Writing Center at writing@ku.edu.
- Workshops must be requested at least two weeks in advance.
- The requesting instructor must be present during the workshop. In our experience, students get the most out of presentations and workshops when their instructor is there to answer discipline- and assignment-specific questions, and to explain how the workshop is relevant to the class material. Please do not request a presentation for a day you will be absent, as we will be unable to give a workshop if you are not there.
- To get the most out of a presentation, students should bring materials to take notes. For revision and peer review workshops, they should have paper copies of their most recent drafts and writing utensils.
- All of our staff works on the Lawrence campus. While we can occasionally schedule in-person workshops at Edwards Campus, usually these workshops will be done over Zoom.
Online Workshops
We can provide our workshops virtually as well. For asynchronous classes or organization meetings, as well as classes at Edwards Campus, we can conduct the workshop over Zoom. Select the option for Zoom when completing the workshop request form. We can also offer videos of select workshops for asynchronous online courses. Please email us to inquire about video options.
Available Workshops
All of our available workshops are listed below, along with a short description. Please read through the descriptions below to select the most appropriate workshop(s) for your course.
The Basics
This short 5-10 presentation provides an overview of the KU Writing Center and how we can support student writing. It is a great way to introduce students to our services near the beginning of a semester.
This workshop is designed for new college students and considers the differences between high school and collegiate level writing. Topics include the importance of writing, creating good daily writing habits, and tips for meeting instructor expectations.
Useful for: entry level Freshman, including UNIV 101, ENGL 101/102, and First-Year Experience Courses, and anyone new to the expectations of collegiate writing.
Approximately 45 minutes
This workshop provides a general overview of the importance of avoiding plagiarism and different reasons that it might occur. Students learn strategies for avoiding plagiarism and the differences between paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting sources. As opposed to our style workshops, this workshop has a stricter focus on plagiarism issues and incorporates classroom activities on plagiarism issues.
Useful for: undergraduate courses; writers new to American collegiate level writing.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop provides information on formatting, writing aspects in this style, and resources. Students will learn how to properly paraphrase, summarize, and quote sources in MLA style, using in-text citations. Also, students will understand the steps of creating a works cited page while using different types of sources (website, book, or peer-reviewed journal).
Useful for: classes using MLA citation methods.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop teaches students the basics of the APA citation style. It covers areas such as formatting, in-text citations, the references page, citing websites, and where to find helpful APA resources.
Useful for: classes using APA citation methods
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
The Writing Process
This workshop discusses the stages of the writing process, including brainstorming, drafting, revision, and editing. Students will learn about time management, assess their writing process, and learn new strategies for the writing process.
Useful for: undergraduate courses, entry level courses or courses assigning significant writing projects.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop is developed to help students learn how to use and write about research. The workshop discusses the research paper’s conventions and provides strategies for working with research in writing.
Useful for: anyone conducting research and writing about it.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
The workshop is a general overview developed to help students learn how to present an argument in their papers. Students will understand different types of arguments and claims. Students will also learn about thesis statements, what types of thesis statements exist, and how to create their own based on the assignment specifics. Students will practice writing a thesis statement around a narrow topic and refining it.
Useful for: everyone!
Approximately 45 minutes.
This workshop prepares writers to respond to peers’ writing through a demonstration of effective feedback practices followed by a peer response session facilitated by a workshop facilitator. Please note that faculty should make grading rubrics available before this workshop.
Useful for: undergraduate or graduate classes; instructors who would like a consultant facilitated peer review session.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop builds upon the basics of general paragraph structure by framing each paragraph as an individual claim that works to support the overall thesis of a paper. We discuss strategies for defining the unique purpose of each paragraph and incorporating evidence effectively for argument development.
Useful for: everyone! May be most useful for writers in the drafting stage of the writing process.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
Writers explore the differences between revision and editing and the importance of both in the writing process. They then learn specific self-revision techniques. It can be helpful for students to have a copy of a current draft to work with during the workshop.
Useful for: undergraduate or graduate classes; students with completed first drafts.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
Specific Genres
This presentation discusses how students can learn to write through examining the expectations of the types of writing that surround them, and it gives them a system to think about new writing tasks.
Useful for: courses where students are encountering new genres and writing in them.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop explores how to highlight a work's significance and attract readers through the CPR method of abstract writing. It teaches writers how to outline the context (C) of their research, explain the problem (P) the research addresses, and to articulate how the research is a response (R) to this problem.
Useful for: students working on larger research projects, graduate students, and those preparing for conferences.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
Annotated Bibliographies explore the genre and conventions of annotated bibliography to create a useful research resource for themselves and others.
Useful for: undergraduate and graduate students working on research projects requiring an annotated bibliography.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
This workshop provides an understanding of the intent and format of personal statements. The session includes general advice on writing personal statements, as well as tips on prioritizing application materials. This workshop is about personal statements overall and not specific to one field. Instructors/organizers are encouraged to add field-specific tips to the presentation.
Useful for: students applying for scholarships, academic programs, graduate school, and internships.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
The workshop is designed to provide knowledge of the parts of a literature review. Students will understand what they should consider before writing and what strategies they can use. They will learn to incorporate reliable sources into a focused review of the literature.
Useful for: students working on research projects requiring a literature review.
Approximately 30-45 minutes.