Faculty Writing Hunkers: August, January, and May

Writing Hunkers create a supportive and productive community of scholarly writers from various disciplines and academic ranks (from postdoctoral researchers and P&A staff to Regent’s Professors and Endowed chairs). Offered before the start of the fall semester, during winter break, and at the end of the spring semester, these five-day facilitated writing retreats couple dedicated time and space for distraction-free writing with writing consultations and group discussions.

Registration typically opens 4-6 weeks before these events, which are promoted through the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs. To be added to our Hunker email list (and ensure you won’t miss the opening of registration, please contact Dan Emery or Jasmine Kar Tang. 

About Hunkers

Writing Hunkers combine dedicated independent writing time with structured writing activities, writing and research consultations, and reflective lunchtime discussions about writing and teaching. Hunkers create a distraction-free, supportive, and productive community of writers from a wide variety of disciplines and academic ranks at the University of Minnesota.

Research from Robert Boice (1990),  McGrail, Rikard, and Jones (2006), and Paul J. Silva (2014) has demonstrated that opportunities to write in parallel, participate in writing groups, and receive coaching on academic writing increase faculty writing productivity. In addition to dedicated writing time, Hunkers create a community of writers who share their experiences, tips, and tricks for managing writing projects and encouraging regular writing practice.

Interested? Questions?

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about writing hunkers (including developing your own departmental or area hunker), please contact Dan Emery ([email protected]). We encourage anyone interested to join our Hunker listserv and Google group, even if this writing retreat doesn't fit your current plans. 

For additional support for your writing and research, please see our resources for scholarly writers page. If you are a graduate student writer interested in writing support (or a faculty member who advises graduate writers), please see the Dissertation Writing Retreat and Student Writing Support resources, especially for graduate writers.

Facilitators

Daniel Emery, Assistant Director, Writing Across the Curriculum

Jasmine Kar Tang, Education Professional 6 - Education Operations/Administration, Center for Writing