Spring 2024
Tuesday, February 20 – Conducting Literature Reviews: Research Strategies for Doctoral Students
In this session, students will learn about general and subject-specific indexing and abstracting resources, search techniques, and interacting with collections held at the University of Illinois and beyond. Students will also have a chance to meet with subject librarians for area-specific guidance. This session is open to all doctoral students.
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Thursday, February 22 – Writing Literature Reviews
In this session, we partner with the Writers Workshop to cover the writing process of a literature review. This session is open to all doctoral students.
When: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Thursday, February 29 – Writing With AI
Led by Mary Ton, Assistant Professor & Digital Humanities Librarian, and Michael Curtin, Innovation Coordinator at the Office of the CIO
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the way that we write and research. But how do these tools work? And how can we use them effectively and ethically in our scholarship? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore how tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and UIUC.chat can help you brainstorm topics, craft titles and abstracts, create outlines, and copyedit. Along the way, we’ll discuss how AI works, its limitations, data privacy concerns, and publishers’ AI policies. There will be plenty of room for experimentation and questions!
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Thursday, March 29 – Doctoral Student Mixer
Please join us for a potluck and a chance to meet the DRSP team and your fellow doctoral students. All are welcome to bring a dish. We look forward to seeing you there! Click here to register.
When: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Main Library, Main Reading Room (Literatures and Languages Library), Room 200
Thursday, April 11 – Doctoral Research Spotlight: Ragini Chakraborty
The Doctoral Research Spotlight Series highlights research conducted by University of Illinois students, as well as their research experiences. This event is entitled “(Im)possibilities of Archival Research: Looking Through Archives in India” and features Ragini Chakraborty, PhD Candidate in Comparative and World Literature.
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Wednesday, April 17 – Dissertation Research – A Panel Discussion
Panelists: Felix Ayanbode (PhD Candidate, Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures), Liz Abosch (PhD Candidate, Department of History), and Alana Ackerman (PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology)
Panelists will share their research, writing, and time management techniques. Each panelist has about ten minutes to talk about strategies that have worked for them (or strategies that have not worked). After each panelist has spoken, participants can ask questions and share their own experiences. We want to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for informal conversations.
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Thursday, April 25 – Writing in Anthropology, Dr. Ruth Behar (2024 MillerComm Speaker)
Writing in the Disciplines series brings together doctoral students with faculty, journal editors, and publishers to discuss writing styles and skills in specific disciplines. It complements existing services offered by the Writers Workshop as well as resources at the departmental level. These events are open to all current doctoral students. We are also encouraging other student groups to participate in these discussions.
This event is jointly hosted by the Program in Jewish Culture and Society, the Writers Workshop, Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library, and the Doctoral Research Support Program at the University of Illinois. Jessica Hagman, Librarian for Anthropology, will introduce Dr. Behar.
When: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., Central Time
Location: Main Library, Room 106, and online through Zoom. Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Past Events
Fall 2023
Friday, September 8 – Doctoral Student Social Mixer
Please join us for a potluck and a chance to meet the DRSP team and your fellow doctoral students. All are welcome to bring a dish. We look forward to seeing you there! Click here to register.
When: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Main Library Front Lawn (facing the former Undergraduate Library)
Tuesday, September 19 – Research Strategies for Conducting Literature Reviews
In this session, students will learn about general and subject-specific indexing and abstracting resources, search techniques, and interacting with collections held at the University of Illinois and beyond. This session is open to all doctoral students. Click here to register.
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Location: Main Library Building, Room 106
Thursday, September 28 – Writing a Literature Review Workshop
Learn how to do it from the pros: the Writers Workshop will lead this session on composing a literature review. This session will focus on intensive literature reviews for PhD dissertations.
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Tuesday, October 3 – Introduction to Archival Research
In the humanities and social sciences, knowledge of archives and archival research is critical to advanced scholarship. We designed this session to focus on the fundamentals of using archives and conducting archival research. Participants will learn about sources for locating archival collections, practices, protocols, and the various terminologies associated with archival research.
Guest Instructor: William Maher (University Archivist Emeritus, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Thursday, October 12 – Using Historical Writing in Disciplinary Research
Part of the Writing in the Disciplines series
Panelists: Amanda Ciafone (Associate Professor – Department of Media and Cinema Studies; Director of Graduate Studies, Institute of Communications Research); Clara Bosak-Schroeder (Associate Professor – Department of Classics); Gillen D’Arcy Wood (Professor – Environmental Humanities and English; Associate Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment)
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Wednesday, October 18 – Writing in Area Studies
Part of the Writing in the Disciplines Series
Panelists: D. Fairchild Ruggles (Professor – Department of Landscape Architecture; Director, Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory); Mary Paula Arends-Kuenning (Associate Professor – Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics; Acting Associate Dean of International Programs); Tabitha M. Cochran (PhD Student – Department of History)
When: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Wednesday, October 25 – Writing in Engineering
Part of the Writing in the Disciplines Series
Panelists: Tugce Baser (Assistant Professor – Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering); Megan Konar (Associate Professor – Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering); Antonia Statt (Assistant Professor – Materials Science & Engineering)
When: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Friday, December 1 – Introduction to Field Research in the Social Sciences and Humanities
Panelists: Mara Wade (Professor – Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures; President, Renaissance Society of America); Andrew Schwenk (PhD Student – Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures)
Time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., Central Time
Click here to register; Zoom link will be sent to participants in advance of the event.
Spring 2023
Introduction to Information Management for Doctoral Students
Doctoral students interact with vast quantities of information from numerous sources that come in many formats and in various languages. It is a daunting challenge to manage and document information repeatedly and for multiple projects, including doctoral dissertation research, as well as unimagined projects in the distant future – a problem reported by established scholars who find they want to use a source they encountered while working on a past project, but might not have used in the final, published version, and can no longer precisely identify. In this session, we will review different types of citations and participants will learn how to choose among various citation management systems. In addition, instructors will discuss note-taking strategies to curate and store information effectively. This session is open to all doctoral students.
Date: Tuesday, February 14th, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., CDT
Place: Zoom
Conducting Literatures Reviews: Research Strategies for Doctoral Students
In this session, students will learn about general and subject-specific indexing and abstracting resources, search techniques, and interacting with collections held at the University of Illinois and beyond. This session is open to all doctoral students.
Date: Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Place: Zoom (Meeting link will be sent after participant registers)
Writing a Literature Review Workshop
Learn how to do it from the pros: the Writers Workshop will lead this session on composing a literature review. This session will focus on intensive literature reviews for PhD dissertations.
Date: Thursday, February 23rd, 2023
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm., CDT
Place: Zoom
Writing in the Social Sciences Workshop
The DRSP Team and the Writers Workshop are hosting Writing in the Disciplines, an online series that connects doctoral students with faculty, journal editors, and publishers to discuss writing styles and skills in specific disciplines. It complements existing services offered by the Writers Workshop as well as resources at the departmental level. These events are open to all current doctoral students.
Date: Friday, February 24th, 2023
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm., CDT
Place: Zoom
Doctoral Student Social Mixer
Please join us for a chance to meet the DRSP team and your fellow doctoral students. We look forward to see you there, at the virtual event, the potluck, or both!
Date: Friday, February 24th, 2023
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., CDT
Place: Main Library (Room 106) and Zoom (Meeting link will be sent after participant registers)
Writing in the Life Sciences Workshop
The DRSP Team and the Writers Workshop are hosting Writing in the Disciplines, an online series that connects doctoral students with faculty, journal editors, and publishers to discuss writing styles and skills in specific disciplines. It complements existing services offered by the Writers Workshop as well as resources at the departmental level. These events are open to all current doctoral students.
Date: Friday, April 7th, 2023
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm., CDT
Place: Zoom