October Live Webinars
Welcome to the Writing Center
October 20, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET
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This webinar will orient you to the many resources available at your fingertips, including paper reviews, extensive website and videos, Quick Answers, live and recorded webinars, self-paced modules, and social media. We'll specifically focus on which resources will be most helpful when you're short on time, have a few days to get help, or are looking to develop your writing skills long-term. Using Restorative Writing to Enact Social Change
October 22, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET
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Where Do You Find Your Writing Motivation?
Beth Nastachowski Associate Director, Office of Writing Instruction.Beth Nastachowski has been with the Writing Center for 10 years and lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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Writing About COVID-19
COVID-19 is inescapable for us all in the year 2020 as a pandemic that has resulted in widespread economic, social, and political consequences. As a Walden student committed to research for social change, you may find yourself interested in researching and writing on topics related to the pandemic. Here are some definitions and tips on writing about COVID-19 to provide you some initial guidance.
The World Health Organization (WHO) as an international public health leader named the disease and the virus that causes it in February 2020:
- The disease is named coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
- The virus that causes COVID-19 is named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The term “COVID-19” refers to the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. However, it also has wider application. The term is also used to refer to the pandemic resulting from widespread infections of that virus, as well as to the consequences of lockdowns and policies meant to limit the spread of COVID-19. For greater specificity, use “COVID-19” as a modifier for the specific aspect of medical, social, political, or economic consequences being addressed, as follows:
- Executive orders that prohibited public gatherings caused COVID-19 closures, resulting in the closing of local libraries. People who contract SARS-CoV-2 can have a range of COVID-19 symptoms, from little to no symptoms (asymptomatic) to severe respiratory issues.
- Following APA style guidance, look to a standard collegiate dictionary such as Merriam-Webster for spelling, which uses “COVID-19.” Note that you will see many variations on spelling and capitalization of the term in different publications, especially since the term is so new.
Although COVID-19 is an abbreviation for “coronavirus disease,” because it is listed as a term in the dictionary, it does not need to be introduced via abbreviations in your writing (see Section 6.25 in APA 7).
Other names for COVID-19 circulate fairly widely in political discussions, but many of these terms are explicitly racist and xenophobic and thus should not be used in research writing except as quotations or in discussions of the problematic nature of such terms. These names include terms such as “Wuhan virus” or “China virus” that name the location where the virus was first identified in an attempt to lay blame for the pandemic on a people, country, or government. For more information, consult the guidance issued by the United Nations (UN) on combatting COVID-19 hate speech.
For some examples of how psychology, health care, and public researchers and journalists discuss COVID-19, see the American Psychological Association’s page on APA COVID-19 Information and Resources.
As you consider different aspects of COVID-19 for research, keep in mind that as the pandemic is currently active, there is a lot of ambiguity about terminology along with heated political debate about the meanings of specific terms. Here are some examples of terms in wide circulation today that should you should carefully chose and define in your writing:
- social distancing
- quarantine, lockdown, stay at home orders, mask orders
- personal protective equipment (PPE)
- face masks, face coverings, cloth masks, respirators, N95 masks, surgical masks
As always, please email or chat with Writing Center staff if you have additional questions about how to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic accurately, clearly, and objectively in your writing.
Paul Lai, Manager, Website and Information Resources
Paul Lai manages the Writing Center's website. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his partner and their two dogs.
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September Live Webinars
Writing at the Graduate Level
Wednesday September 9th from 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
Audience: Graduate Students
We are not born knowing how to write academically, and you did not enter graduate school knowing how to write like a graduate student. After all, writing is a learning process. This session will discuss the characteristics of scholarly writing, giving you strategies to elevate your writing to graduate school expectations.
Writing and Responding to Discussion Posts
Tuesday September 22nd from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET
Audience: All Students
As a Walden student, you'll write many discussion posts in your courses. Attend this webinar to learn the Writing Center's tips on how to create strong discussion posts and how to respond to your classmates' discussion posts.
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August Live Webinar Schedule
Tuesday, August 4, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Audience: Doctoral Capstone students
Writing a doctoral capstone document, such as a dissertation or a doctoral or project study, is a unique process with its own challenges. Often the shorter writing and research assignments you have done in courses do not accurately reflect what it takes to craft a book-length document that contains an original scholarly contribution, which is what your capstone will be. This webinar addresses the ways writing the doctoral capstone differs from writing for graduate courses and outlines some helpful strategies for how to approach the writing process as you move into the capstone phase.
Essential Elements for Writing Annotated Bibliographies
Thursday, August 13, 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET
Audience: Graduate students
This session discusses the do's and don'ts of annotated bibliographies using examples. This session is relevant for any graduate students who will be or have completed an annotated bibliography as part of their course work or in preparation for a doctoral capstone study. We also explain how annotated bibliographies can be used by all writers as a way to take notes and organize research. If you are currently writing or will write a large research paper, this is the webinar for you!
Writing Literature Reviews in Your Graduate Coursework
Tuesday, August 18, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET
Audience: Graduate students
Are you writing a literature review in one of your master's or doctoral courses? This webinar is for you! Literature reviews often require a large amount of research and organization as you collect multiple perspectives on a topic and synthesize them together. In this webinar, you'll learn tips for how to successfully write a literature review for your courses.
Note: This webinar will not address literature reviews in doctoral capstones (dissertations and project studies). To learn about literature reviews in doctoral capstones, see the webinar "Reviewing the Literature and Incorporating Previous Research," as well as the Doctoral Capstone Form and Style website.
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