GWSS 592: Feminist Writing Workshop
Autumn 2025
TTh 10:30-12:20
Mary Gates Hall 082A
Sasha Welland
Email: swelland@uw.edu
Office: Padelford B-110J
Office Hours: Th 1:00-2:30 / Signup Link
Course Description
From the Course Catalogue
Supports graduate students writing proposals, theses, and dissertations. Participants must have a feminist research topic and a commitment to share work and support peers. Students draft and revise a proposal, article, or thesis/dissertation chapter; and hone editing skills by reviewing peers' work. Exposes students to feminist intellectual fields, research methods, and writing genres while helping establish peer-review relationships.
In Greater Detail
To enroll in this class, students do not need any background in GWSS, only a feminist/queer research topic, a desire to share work-in-progress, and a willingness to assist others with their writing projects. In the process, students gain exposure to interdisciplinary intellectual fields, research methods, and writing genres. Through regular practice in writing and revising—at the level of the sentence, argument, and overall structure—students hone their writerly voices, bringing research alive against the current backdrop of flat, styleless AI speak. As a C/NC offering, this course brings a collective focus on building and sustaining one’s writing craft, as well as editing and revising skills.
This workshop-based course focuses on the craft of writing as part of feminist and queer knowledge production and guides participants in developing as writers in ways that reflect the commitments of their research projects. What is the relationship between form, content, and audience? It also guides participants in the practice of peer critique and support.
We will do in-class writing exercises that focus on narrative and analytic prose, moving back and forth between sentence-level elements of style, such as punctuation and syntax, to the bigger picture of scene, point of view, voice, argument, and architecture. We will consider the relationship between story and theory. How does one craft a compelling narrative based on research materials, in a way that speaks to debates in your field and beyond? Depending on who is in the class and the types of projects you’re working on, we might also branch into areas such as transcription, translation, article submission, revise and resubmit protocols, or job application cover letters. As I get to know you and your projects, I will adapt the writing exercises and reading assignments in the proposed schedule below to best suit the group’s needs.
Over the quarter, students will work on drafting and revising one sustained piece of writing, such as a proposal, prospectus, article, chapter, or an essay or story that communicates your research to different publics. You will share drafts with peers for feedback, and then revise and repeat.
What forms of writing are you moved by? What arguments do you find powerful, even if densely written? How might we do both—move readers with our words and analytic clarity—through feminist intellectual and scholar-activist projects and pursuits that take shape at least in part through the practice of writing? With these questions in mind, students will also read examples of recent feminist writing and bring pieces that have inspired them so that we can examine them in terms of craft as much as argument.
Course Materials
BOOKS
There are many books on writing. For example, I read Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft many years ago—probably as a graduate student but my memory is murky—and interestingly every time I think about using an adverb, I remember his admonition against them. I have selected books with writing exercises and prompts and advice on revision that I hope will serve you well for this course and in your future writing life. Others are optional. I will upload short readings from these as pdfs to our Canvas course site. The Elements of Style, the slim volume by Strunk and White, is an old standard; used copies of it are widely available. I have returned to it time and again to remind myself of grammatical rules and ways to make my writing more readable, clear, and lively. Amitava Kumar’s Every Day I Write the Book addresses academic writers but in a pithy and stylish way, including for example a short, two-page take on Strunk and White.
Order Online
- Ursula K. Le Guin. Steering the Craft: A 21st Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story. Boston: Mariner Books, 2015 (second edition). [Order online]
- William Germano. On Revision: The Only Writing That Counts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021. [Order online, UW Libraries Ebook, 1 user access]
Available as Ebooks through the UW Libraries
- Kirin Narayan. Alive in the Writing: Crafting Ethnography in the Company of Chekhov. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2012. [UW Libraries Ebook, unlimited users]
- Optional: Amitava Kumar. Every Day I Write the Book: Notes on Style. Durham: Duke University Press, 2020. [UW Libraries Ebook, unlimited users]
Optional
- William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2000 (fourth edition).
OTHER READINGS
Electronic copies of articles and excerpted chapters that we will read and discuss at the beginning of the quarter will be available through the Canvas course site in Files and weekly Modules.
Assignments & Evaluation
Class Participation (10%)
In order to build the respect and trust necessary for this workshop to be productive for all, you need to show and be accountable to your peers. If you must miss class for an unavoidable reason (illness, pre-scheduled exam defense, conference presentation, etc.), you should still complete the in-class writing exercises we will be doing in class and share those via a Canvas discussion board I will set up for this purpose. Please check with a classmate about in-class exercises you missed. You will also be responsible for keeping up with providing feedback to your peers as outlined below.
Story/Theory: An Exercise in Beginning and Revising (10%)
You will do the two 2-page exercises, “Story and Theory” and “Theory and Story,” at the end of the first chapter of Alive in Writing for discussion in class. You will then integrate and revise these two short pieces of writing into an introduction to your proposed writing project for this class.
First Draft of Work-in-Progress (15%)
You will develop and share with the class an initial draft of the piece of writing you will work on for this course. This first draft should be between 5-10 pages. By Week 2 we will set a schedule for whose work we will discuss during each class session and an even allotment of time for giving feedback to each author. According to the schedule we will set together, you will submit your draft via Canvas discussion board to the group in advance. If you are signed up for a Tuesday meeting, please submit your work by 5 pm on the preceding Friday before. If you are signed up for a Thursday meeting, please submit your work by 5 pm on the preceding Monday.
Peer Critique/Editing (20%)
With the premise of “everyone writes, everyone reads,” you will carefully read the work shared in advance by your classmates. For the session in which their work will be critiqued, please prepare a one-paragraph “peer editing” reflection on their writing and what you got out of it. What was your first impression? What about the writing did you really like? Where were you confused or surprised or frustrated or delighted? More specific directions on identifying a thesis/argument, structure, and feminist content will be given before the first workshop. Please bring a copy of this reflection to bring to class. You can use this as a starting point for the feedback you will give in person as part of the group discussion. After the workshop session, you should post your comments to your peer’s discussion board. You will receive 1 point for each post.
Revised Draft of Work-in-Progress (20%)
With the peer feedback you received in mind, you will revise (and perhaps extend) your piece of writing. This second draft should be between 10-15 pages. We will follow the same procedure as outlined above for a second round of peer critique of your work. With this draft, you may consider submitting with it a few questions that you would like to consider your readers to keep in mind as they read.
Final Revision (25%)
During finals week, you will submit a final revision of your work to me, along with a 1-2 page description of how you incorporated the editorial suggestions you received. (We can discuss as a class whether or not you’d like to share your final work with everyone.) The final revision can be up to 15-20 pages, although we can discuss what your goals are for the piece (thesis submission, dissertation defense, publication, etc.) and therefore optimum length. Longer is not always better!