MONDAYS

First Things First! Faculty Write-on-Site

Open to all UC faculty, our weekly writing accountability sessions provide a regular rhythm, quiet space, and coffee to advance your writing goals. No registration required! Runs every Monday, 9:30–11:30am, September 8–December 8, in person at the Taft Research Center. 

FRIDAYS

Taft Faculty Write Retreats

Open to all UC faculty, Taft Faculty Write retreats provide the space, time, and structure to accelerate your writing! Join Dr. Laura Micciche for a full or half day; attend all four sessions, or only what your schedule allows. Participants will work on independent writing projects alongside one another. In addition to writing, we’ll take short breaks to set goals, report progress, and move around. Co-sponsored with the Faculty Enrichment Center who will provide light refreshments during each session. Join in-person at FEC or online via Zoom. Register via Faculty OneStop using the links below. 

Fall 2025 Dates: 
Friday, September 5, 10am–3pm | Register 
Friday, October 3, 10am–3pm | Register
Friday, November 14, 10am–3pm | Register
Friday, November 14, 10am–3pm | Register

FALL/SPRING

First Draft Faculty Fellowship Sprint 

Join arts, humanities, and social science colleagues working on faculty fellowship applications for first draft writing sprints. We’ll provide coffee, snacks, lunch, and insights from past UC awardees. You’ll leave with a first draft of your project proposal! Presented biannually in partnership with the College–Conservatory of Music.

Fall 2025
Friday, August 22, 10am–3pm |  Register

MONDAYS

Weekly Write Now! 

Open to all UC graduate students and postdocs, our weekly writing accountability sessions provide a regular rhythm, quiet space, and coffee to advance your writing goals. No registration required! Runs weekly every Monday, 1–3pm, September 8–December 8, in person at the Taft Research Center. 

TUESDAYS
 

Write Now! Retreats 

Do you need designated time and space to get your writing done? So do we! Join us as we work to make progress on our seminar papers, theses, dissertations, creative writing or whatever else is calling our names. We'll provide structured time, a quiet space, refreshments, and camaraderie. You just need to bring a writing goal and something to write on! Students are welcome to drop in or stay the entire time. Open to all graduate students and post docs! Presented in partnership with the Academic Writing Center and Graduate College. Register via GetInvolvedUC. 

Fall 2025 Dates 
Tuesday, September 16, 10:30am–2:30pm, 475 Langsam Library | Register
Tuesday, October 14, 10:30am–3pm, Taft Research Center | Register
Tuesday, November 18, 10:30am–3pm, Taft Research Center | Register

WEDNESDAYS

Taft Dissertation & Thesis Writing Group 

This bi-weekly writing accountability group is designed exclusively for Taft graduate students currently writing a dissertation or thesis. Participants must be able to commit to meeting bi-weekly Wednesdays, 2:30–5:30pm throughout the fall semester at the Taft Research Center. We offer participants a structured group setting to make significant writing progress toward their culminating projects. Each three-hour session will open and close with a brief group discussion for participants to set goals and reflect on progress. A quiet space, supportive camaraderie, and coffee and tea will be provided. Participants must commit to attending all seven scheduled sessions for the full three-hour period. Facilitated by Jayne Stone. 

Fall 2025 Session Dates: September 10 & 24, October 8 & 22, November 5 & 19, and December 3 

Taft Faculty Publish 

Monday, September 15, 11:30–3pm | Faculty Enrichment Center and Zoom | Register

Join us for two online workshops led by Dr. Laura Portwood-Stacer, a publishing consultant and developmental editor who helps academic authors at all career stages navigate the book publishing process. Register to attend one or both sessions. The first 25 in-person attendees will receive a copy of Dr. Portwood-Stacer’s latest book Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers (Princeton UP, 2025)! Refreshments will be provided.

How to Publish an Interdisciplinary Book, 11:30am–1pm 
This workshop will cover the unique challenges of writing and publishing interdisciplinary books and the importance of strategic framing in pitching an interdisciplinary project to scholarly publishers. Participants will be guided through hands-on exercises to help them gain a focused vision of who their book is for. Participants will leave with concrete strategies for identifying the best-fit presses and crafting a cohesive book proposal.

How to Publish a Book from Your Dissertation, 1:30–3pm 
This workshop for early-career researchers and their mentors will cover how to effectively pitch a revised dissertation project for scholarly publishers. We will discuss what scholarly presses mean when they say that they don’t publish dissertations and how to ensure that your submission materials address the major concerns publishers have when considering revised dissertations. We will also address the common advice to “write your dissertation as a book” and when you should start approaching publishers about your project.