Workshops for Graduate Students

The workshopping experience is integral to excellent scholarship. At the center, we focus on creating spaces where graduate student work is the primary focus, rather than at the periphery, and where graduate students can convene across disciplines and gain insights from one another, about the production of academic writing, the institutional strategizing required to manage a dissertation to completion and the array of methods for connecting to wider publics.

Check this page for a continuously updated list of the humanities center’s periodic workshop and other special offerings, both standalone and tied to the center’s events, for graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Below are workshops and opportunities for the 2026–27 academic year.

Limited Event

2026-27 Academic Year

How to write an academic cover letter

12 pm, Thursday, September 24, 2026, Umrath Hall, Room 201

This workshop is designed for humanities graduate students at any level who want to polish academic job materials. We’ll focus on the cover letter as a genre, think about what hiring committees are reading for, and practice a few strategies to help your letter stand out. Students do not have to be on the job market to attend!

Making mentorship effective

12 pm, Thursday, October 20, 2026, Umrath Hall, Room 201

With the Office of Graduate Studies

This workshop will consider mentoring from the perspective of the mentee – graduate students being advised by faculty and non-faculty mentors across their graduate training. We’ll discuss strategies for communication, project management and help you set these important relationships up for success. This workshop is designed for students in the earlier years of humanities doctoral training, though humanities graduate students at any level are welcome to attend. 

Long range planning for your post-graduate employment

12 pm, Thursday, November 19, 2026, Umrath Hall, Room 201

This workshop, co-led by Kyle Ferris of the Center for Career Engagement, will offer a broad approach to planning for careers including and beyond the professoriate. Designed for early-career graduate students, we’ll offer advice for making sure your doctoral training is legible in a variety of career contexts, availing yourself of on- and off-campus career planning resources, and help you set yourself up for success once you’re on the job market.

Applying for funding for graduate students

12 pm, Thursday, December 3, 2026, Umrath Hall, Room 201

At this workshop, we’ll think about various funding opportunities for graduate students, including dissertation completion fellowships, research funding opportunities, and other grants for which graduate students are eligible. We’ll also discuss the importance of applying for funding as a scholarly strategy and as a developing career skill. Humanities graduate students of any level are encouraged to attend!

Past workshops

Ongoing

Scholarly Writing Retreat
The Scholarly Writing Retreat offers WashU humanities and humanistic social sciences faculty, postdocs and graduate students the opportunity to jump-start their summer writing in a motivated, supportive and collaborative atmosphere.

More opportunities for WashU graduate students

There are many more ways for graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences to become involved with the Center for the Humanities. Click the button below to return to the Graduate webpage.

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