By Guido Ernst, Program Manager (Arts & Social Sciences), Academic Skills Unit
Working on thesis old skool style by perhapstoopink (CC BY 2.0)
If you are writing a longer thesis (i.e. research Masters or PhD), you might be interested in the Thesis Writers’ Circles run by the Academic Skills Unit. TWCs go usually for 8 weeks, with a 2-hour session each week. In the first hour, a particular topic is discussed, e.g. “lit review”, “structure” or “methods”. In the second hour participants read each others drafts and give feedback. This peer-reviewing is great to get feedback from someone else then your supervisors, and it’s also really useful and interesting to see what others do in their theses. The weekly topics are agreed on by the participants in the first week, depending on interest and need, so it should be really relevant to you. TWCs are also a great opportunity for networking!
The ASU runs TWCs in most faculties and you’ll probably get an email if there’s one about to start in yours, but you can always check the ASU calendar at http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/asu/calendar.html to see whether one is scheduled (and which other workshops ASU offers).
Hi,
I am interesting in being part of this kind of activity. Do you know if there will be a group this year?
Hi Rodrigo,
We run various TWCs throughout the year in most faculties. Send me an email at g.ernst@unimelb.edu.au, stating your faculty, and I’ll let you know what we have planned for 2013.
You might also be interested in “Shut up & write” – see http://gradresearch.unimelb.edu.au/programs/upskills/thesis_writing.html#write for details.