Upcoming Workshops & Events

With Dr. Elizabeth Wardle and Dr. Mandy Olejnik

Friday, August 28th, 10:05-11:25am (King 133)

RSVP here

What role can writing play in your course? How do you design writing assignments that align with your course goals? How can larger writing assignments be scaffolded to encourage learning and also reduce workload? Our first workshop of the semester will explore these questions and provide the opportunity to sketch out goals, activities, and assignments for a unit of your course. Start the semester off strong!

with Dr. Mandy Olejnik and Emma Boddy

Monday, September 14th, 11:40am-1:00pm (AIS King 134)

Lunch Served

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Since the explosion of ChatGPT in early Spring 2023, students and faculty have been learning about new ways AI impacts their teaching and learning. In this presentation, we’ll take a deeper look at Miami students' attitudes and impressions of AI, including students' experiences with our newly developed student AI modules. In the end, we’ll help you reframe your own AI conversations with students and help you (re)consider what students really think and want from AI tools.

with Dr. Elizabeth Wardle and Emma Boddy 

Monday, Sept 21st, 10:05-11:25am (King 133)

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Do you find yourself spending too much time line editing and leaving feedback on student writing? Are you concerned that students don’t read or use the feedback you leave? This interactive workshop will demonstrate how to strategically respond to student writing and describe an array of methods and modalities for giving feedback at critical times.

with Emma Boddy, Emma Bapst, and Howe Writing Center Consultants

Monday, Oct 12th, 11:40am-1:00pm (King 133)

Lunch Served

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What do students find most meaningful about the writing they’ve completed while at Miami? Join us for a panel discussion with students and writing center consultants where they share their most impactful experiences with writing, highlighting engaging assignments, approaches, and activities that have stood out to them across time.

with Dr. Mandy Olejnik, Emma Boddy, and Emma Bapst

Wednesday, October 28th, 2:50—4:10pm (AIS King 134)

RSVP here

While peer response is a commonly-used method used across educational settings, students don’t always react positively to it. In this workshop, we’ll help you design and facilitate peer response activities that go into more depth and serve as useful to students. We’ll discuss ways to frame and introduce peer response, tools and technologies for students to use while peer response, and how to help students use their peer response feedback in tandem with other forms of feedback.

with Mystery Facilitators

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Stay tuned for a “mystery” workshop we’ll be hosting in November! We’ll do a grand reveal later in the semester of what & when it’ll be as we consider the needs of our Miami teaching community. We won’t let you down 😎

with Dr. Mandy Olejnik, Emma Boddy, Emma Bapst, & AI-Informed Pedagogy Graduates

In-person mini conference Friday, September 25th, 12—3pm in King 134 (AIS) & King 110

RSVP COMING SOON

After four semesters of offering our AI-Informed Writing Pedagogy Certificate, this semester we’re pausing our certificate programming and asking those who have participated to share with the broader Miami community what they’ve learned and how we can each uniquely approach AI according to our personal principles.

Everyone is welcome to come and attend our special showcase event that will feature engaging roundtable discussions, a gallery walk of AI policies and principles, information about how students have used our student version of the AI modules, and more.

with Elizabeth Wardle, Mandy Olejnik, Emma Boddy, and Emma Bapst

Offering 1: Fridays 9 -10:30am on September 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th in King 110

Offering 2: Fridays 9 -10:30am on October 16th, October 23rd, October 30th, and November 6th in King 110

Up to 15 participants per offering. 

APPLY HERE

To support faculty with the new Portfolio requirement, the HCWE is pleased to offer Portfolio Working Groups this academic year. In these working groups, faculty will learn more about the genre of a Portfolio, why it’s impactful, and how they can embed them into their courses. As part of this group, faculty will also create their own academic portfolios to understand the process and coordinate ways to implement into their classrooms. 

You can choose between two offerings, which each meet 4 Fridays in a row from 9-10:30am in King 110. 

Participants who successfully complete the working group (attend all sessions and complete a portfolio prototype) will receive $200 in PD funds.

While we’re taking a pause from offering our full AI-Informed Writing Pedagogy Certificate, we are still offering access to our asynchronous modules where you can learn more about AI, how it relates to and impacts writing instruction, and then develop your own personal principles to help you address AI moving forward. Taking these modules and then making appointments at the Howe Writing Center can also result in an AI-Informed Writing microcredential. 

Sign Up for Access Here or email Mandy Olejnik directly to receive access to just the modules: olejnimr@miamioh.edu

Mondays from 1:15-2:45, King 133 

With Elizabeth Wardle

We are currently taking applications for Spring 2027. This program is not open to graduate students. Interested? Email Elizabeth Wardle: wardleea@miamioh.edu 

The Faculty Writing Fellows Program is a semester-long master class that supports teams of faculty members and their departments/programs in their efforts to teach students to write more effectively in their disciplines and professions and to use writing in ways that encourage deep learning of disciplinary material. All participants should finish the program with new ideas for writing assignments, new strategies for teaching writing, new writing-intensive course ideas, and/or suggestions for their departments on how to improve the overall teaching of writing of their majors, minors, and graduate students. At the end of the program, Fellows return to their departments to present their ideas and make suggestions for ways to integrate writing into their courses and programs to meet goals and needs that are specific to their context. Learn more about the philosophy of the program in the new book, Changing Conceptions, Changing Practices: Innovating Teaching Across Disciplines. 

Fellows meet every Monday from 1:15-2:45 pm. Participants who complete the program receive $2,000 in professional development funds. This program is only open to teams working toward a shared goal.

Facilitated by Dr. Mandy Olejnik and Dr. Lizzie Hutton (Howe Center), Geoff Zoeckler (Entrepreneurship), and Howe Center for Business Writing Undergrad Consultants

Tuesday, April 14, 3-4:15 pm in FSB 2043

Are you wondering how to adapt your writing assignments in the age of AI while maintaining your learning goals? Join Howe Center staff and Geoff Zoeckler (Entrepreneurship) to explore the new landscape of writing support. In this interactive session, you’ll get a high-level overview and live demo of current AI writing tools, unique insights from undergraduate Howe Center consultants on the value of peer response with human feedback, and a concrete strategy to integrate (or insulate) these tools within your specific course goals.

Note: this session was designed for FSB faculty but is open to any faculty member who wants to attend. 

With Elizabeth Wardle and Rena Perez

Friday, April 10, 11-12:15 pm (Zoom)

Not only do ePortfolios support student learning and showcase your programs, they also provide the necessary material to engage in the “gold standard” of assessment of your programs. Rather than begging students and teachers to submit one document to assess, you can instead see a complete and curated online ePortfolio that illustrates the work a student has done across your programs. This zoom session will explain how you can use ePortfolios to not only make program assessment more useful but also more enjoyable!

Note: this session was designed for CCA faculty but is open to any faculty member who wants to attend. 

Roundtable with Todd Edwards (Teacher Education/Mathematics), Neil Danielson (Chemistry), Fadel Megahed (Information Systems and Analytics), and Elizabeth Wardle (English/HCWE)

Thursday, April 2, 2026 1:15-2:30 pm (Hybrid: King 110 with Zoom Link)

Join us to talk with Miami faculty who serve as editors of national or international peer reviewed journals.  The editors will share tips for submitting and revising manuscripts with the goal of helping you better navigate the publication process. Attendees will be encouraged to connect with other participants and form accountability writing groups.

Roundtable with Tim Lockridge (Editor, Computers and Composition Digital Press), Elizabeth Wardle (Editor, Writing Research, Policy, and Pedagogy Series) and Kenna Neitch (Author, A Praxis of Persistence: Central American Feminist Testimony and Sustainable Activism)

Friday, March 13th, 2026 from 9-10am (Hybrid: King 133 with Zoom Link)

What does it take to place and publish a book with an academic press? Join us for a roundtable discussion with book editors as well as authors of recent academic monographs to learn some strategies for publishing your manuscript. The guests will discuss finding time to write, submitting a proposal, navigating interactions with editors, responding to peer reviews, and working through the publication process.

With Vince Frieden (Senior Director of Development and Foundation Relations), Joyce Fernandes (Biology and Undergraduate Research), Liz Kiel (Psychology), Heather Menne (Scripps Gerontology Center), Jenny Minier (Economics), and Elizabeth Wardle (English/HCWE)

Friday, February 27, 2026 10:05-11:15 (Hybrid: King 133 with Zoom Link)

How do you write winning grant proposals? This roundtable consists of Miami faculty and staff who can help you answer this question and navigate the grantwriting process--from finding funding to writing proposals to understanding the priorities of evaluators.

Roundtable with Peter Gethers (Penguin Random House), Alecia Lipton (University Communications and Marketing), Anne Whitesell (Political Science), and Elizabeth Wardle (HCWE and English)

Tuesday, February 17th, 2026, 9-10:00 am (Hybrid: King 133 with Zoom Link)

Are you interested in publishing for non-academic audiences? Join us for a roundtable discussion with faculty who have successfully placed columns in public venues or written books for public audiences, as well as an editor for an international publishing house and Miami’s own Director of Media and Public Relations. Learn how to get started, find an outlet for your ideas, and what to expect during the writing and  publishing process. Leave with a plan for writing for a specific outlet.

With Dr. Elizabeth Wardle

In-person meetings on Fridays from 8:45-9:55 am on: January 30th, February 6th, February 13th, and February 20th (King 133)

Do you have a vexed relationship with writing? Do you think you write too slowly? Do you have trouble getting your ideas into writing? Do your writing tools not work as you’d like? Do you hear unhelpful voices in your head dictating writing rules or strategies that don’t work for you? If so, join Dr. Elizabeth Wardle for this four-part reading and writing support group using her new book, Writing Rediscovered: Nine Concepts to Transform Your Relationship With Writing. You’ll reflect on your experiences as a writer, examine common misconceptions about writing, try out new writing tools, and end with a new writer’s toolbox and personal Writer’s Manifesto. 

Participants will be encouraged (but not required) to attend Faculty or Graduate Writing Hours, and put their new ideas about writing into practice. Participants who attend all sessions will also earn $100 in PD funds!

November 11, 1:15-2:35 (King 112A)

Join us for an interactive pedagogy talk from OSU Newark professor Dan Keller, who will help us think through ways to help students' navigate AI tools in both their reading and their writing for class. Refreshments provided!

RSVP Here

RSVP here

What kinds of feedback are helpful for writers at different stages of their writing process? How and where can writers get feedback that helps them move forward? When do they need feedback from peers vs teachers, and when might AI tools be a productive partner in the feedback process? Participants will reflect on their own writing processes and the tools and feedback they need, and then consider how this might help them innovate the feedback they provide students.

With Rena Perez and Emma Boddy, and Guests Meredith Perkins and Sam Norton

Friday, November 15, 1:15-2:35 pm and Friday, November 22, 1:15-2:35 pm
King Library Room 133

Learn about the genre of op-eds as a way to reach public audiences as a way for both faculty and students to have your voices heard. Various faculty members and student writers will share their experiences and advice on writing op-eds, and describe why they are such a powerful genre for making an impact beyond university walls.

*This workshop is also open to undergraduate students.*

Part 1: Unpacking Op-Eds as a Genre
Friday, November 15, 1:15-2:35 pm

This session will overview op-eds as a genre, their common features and structures, and some steps for how to begin writing and/or teaching them.

Part 2: Writing Op-Eds and Designing Op-Ed Assignments
Friday, November 21, 1:15-2:35 pm 

In this session, participants will be given guidance, time, and space in community to practice writing op-eds of interest to them or designing assignments for teaching op-eds.

With Rena Perez

Monday, October 28 from 11:40-1:00pm, King Library Room 133

This workshop will explore designing (or redesigning) assignments to guide students through composing in multimodal genres, such as podcasts, infographics, videos, etc. Participants will learn a process for scaffolding students in drawing on different modes to design texts that inform and engage public audiences.

With Dr. Elizabeth Wardle

October 17 and October 24, 1:15-2:35 (Zoom)

This session describes the ecology of grant funding, how to find grant funding, and how to write the narrative section of grant proposals. The focus will be on non-governmental grants, although the rhetorical strategies will be effective for all grant proposals.

Part 1: Finding Funding Sources
Thursday, October 17, 1:15-2:35 pm

This session will discuss the ecology of grant funding and how to find grant funding, with a focus on finding non-governmental grants using The Foundation Directory.

Part 2: Understanding the Rhetorical Moves of a Grant Proposal
Thursday, October 24 from 1:15-2:35 pm

This session will describe the elements of the grant proposal genre and describe the rhetorical moves that grant proposals typically make.

With Dr. Tim Lockridge, English

Thursday, September 19 from 1:15—2:35 pm (in-person), King Library, Room 133

Writers often seek and celebrate flow states, or the long stretches of uninterrupted deep focus. But what happens when something prevents or disrupts flow? Why is it sometimes difficult to find momentum or simply get started? And how might our writing tools and environments shape the way we enter and exit those flow states? This workshop will discuss two concepts—friction and resistance—that can help us better understand the ebbs and flows in our writing process. We'll also evaluate the role of generative AI writing tools, many of which promise to erase friction and facilitate creativity and productivity. Participants will analyze and discuss their own writing processes, and they'll leave the workshop with an understanding of "friction's invitation," which offers a way of reevaluating writing tools, environments, and tasks.

With Dr. Mandy Olejnik and Rena Perez (HCWE) and Dennis Cheatham (Art: Communication Design)

September 6 and September 13, 1:15-2:35, Zoom

The rise of ChatGPT and similar large language models has brought renewed focus on teaching and learning in higher education, especially related to writing instruction. This two-part workshop series is dedicated to helping faculty play and learn more about these AI tools, both in terms of how it impacts student learning as well as how it impacts faculty writing and teaching practices.

Part 1: Explore and Play with AI
Friday, September 6 from 1:15-2:35 pm (Zoom)

Part 1 is for people who are unfamiliar with AI tools and would like hands-on exploration. It provides participants with an introductory opportunity to learn more about how AI works and then actually play around with a few AI tools.

Part 2: Redesign Writing Assignments around AI
Friday, September 13 from 1:15-2:35 pm (Zoom)

Part 2 is for those with some experience and knowledge about AI tools. Attendees will draft AI-related assignments and policies. This session will not include a basic overview of AI, so participants who need an introduction should attend Part 1.

Participants are welcome to attend  both or either, depending on their comfort level with AI tools. Please note that Part 2 requires some previous experience with AI, either in Part 1 other contexts.

With Elizabeth Wardle and Lizzie Hutton.

4/10/2024 and 4/17/2024

This two-part workshop will first introduce research on how to help students read in the ways people in your field/discipline expect, and then provide a heuristic for helping students take effective notes on their reading and then synthesize what they have learned in an appropriate review of what they read. Please plan to attend both sessions.

Part 1: Teaching Students to Read Effectively for Your Courses. Research tells us that faculty in different disciplines read and use texts differently, yet students usually have  little to no instruction in how to read as we expect. This workshop will share some of the research about reading and provide suggestions for how to help your students read more effectively.  

Part 2: Teaching Students to Write Effective Syntheses and Literature. Once students know how to read in active and purpose-driven ways, they struggle to take notes and look for patterns and themes. This workshop will share some methods for helping students take notes on ideas and themes across multiple sources, with the goal of synthesizing multiple sources and writing a literature review.