Humanities Dissertation Proposal Writing

This course will take graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences through the step-by-step process of developing dissertation proposals to submit for funding opportunities and to meet departmental requirements. We'll focus on crafting proposals that are clear and compelling for scholars in one's own field and far beyond.

The craft of writing research proposals is a valuable set of skills to learn in graduate school. Strong proposal writing skills are vital for success in many positions in academia, government and non-profit work, and business.

We'll meet ten times during the quarter to discuss how to develop a proposal and then share and workshop draft proposals with one another. Each student will also give an oral presentation of their proposal. Students will be expected, along the way, to solicit feedback on drafts from their advisors. 

When all assignments are complete, students will have in hand a well-crafted proposal to submit to funders and share with their dissertation committees.

Class sessions will be screen-free unless computers are necessary to meet disability accommodations. As writing is an integral part of humanistic analysis and interpretation, the use of AI -- defined here as large language models (LLMs) -- will be prohibited for course assignments. 

Add code required. If you're interested, please email Associate Director Rachel Arteaga (rarteaga@uw.edu) with a two-sentence description, indicating your PhD program, explaining your year/stage in that program, and your interest in this course.