January 21, 2010
A Two Day
Faculty Writing Retreat
Location:
Institute for Writing Studies,
Library Room 150,
Queens Campus
Date:
Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 10 am to 4 pm
and
Sunday, February 7, 2010 from 11 am to 4 pm
To Register: Contact the CTL
at ctl@stjohns.edu or
ext. 1859; participation is limited.
The Faculty Writing Retreat is a two-day opportunity to get your
writing done!
What it takes for any of us to start (or finish) an article or
chapter, get going on a book proposal, or write a grant is simply
time not spent on email, teaching, or cleaning house. We have
to carve out time to sit in front of our laptops and write, and we
all know how difficult that is once the semester has begun.
The Faculty Writing Retreat offers you the opportunity to commit
to a weekend of writing surrounded by your colleagues who will have
made the same commitment as you. Published research – and our
colleagues at other institutions who regularly host faculty writing
retreats – all tell us the positive energy of being around faculty
peers who are also writing (and struggling to write) helps faculty
get substantial work done, even in two short days.
As to the schedule for the retreat, we will offer some brief
warm-up and focused writing exercises on the first morning.
We are certain there will be much writing advice to be shared
during lunch, which will be served at noon on Saturday and 1 pm on
Sunday. And, if you would like some feedback on your writing,
we are quite sure you will be able to find another colleague who
would also like feedback – and the IWS has wonderful spaces for
such exchanges. But you are not required to share your
writing or seek feedback. These two days are about spending
time writing, writing, revising, writing, revising and writing
among your colleagues who are doing the same; then ending the
weekend by celebrating the feeling of having gotten some
substantial writing done even once the semester has begun.
There’s good evidence that writing retreats are valuable,
especially if faculty arrive with realistic goals, use the weeks
leading up to the retreat preparing to write (researching,
thinking, organizing), and use the weeks following to keep writing
without losing momentum. In fact, we hope some
writing/response groups might form out of this retreat, because
such groups help faculty become more productive. Also, we’ve
structured the Faculty Writing Initiative’s meetings this semester
to help with this. Come to the Proto-Idea meeting (1/26/10 at
2:30 pm in Library Rm 110, the Title III Learning Lab at the back
of the Academic Commons) with a paragraph, expand it during the
retreat weekend, and after the retreat, consider how to build your
argument (3/23/10 at 2:30 pm). If you would like to learn
more about writing retreats, go to the CTL Forum Writing Page at
http://stjohns.campusguides.com/aecontent.php?pid=71651&sid=589816.
We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a
productive and exhilarating weekend. Please remember that
participation is limited; please RSVP at ctl@stjohns.edu or ext. 1859 by
February 1. If you have any questions, just email Anne Geller
(gellera@stjohns.edu) or
Maura Flannery (flannerm@stjohns.edu).