The CNY Humanities Corridor invites applications for a Summer 2020 Writing Retreat.

Application deadline is January 31, 2020.
Awardees will be notified in late February 2020.

Dates: July 15-18, 2020 (arrive mid-day July 15; depart mid-day July 18)
Location: Minnowbrook Conference Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY (see photo gallery)
Award: 3 nights’ lodging, meals, tuition (attendance for the retreat duration is required).

For a downloadable version of this CFP, please access the PDF version.

Michelle Boyd, PhD – an award-winning scholar, writing coach, and founder of InkWell Academic Writing Retreats – will lead two full-day sessions focused on sustainable, fulfilling writing practices. Ample time will be dedicated to writing during the retreat: there will also be breaks built in to each day to enjoy the Adirondack setting and Minnowbrook’s amenities.

♦ July 16, How to Identify and Move Past Writing Obstacles
Scholars often confront barriers in their writing and research that are disruptive, nebulous, and difficult to address using standard writing accountability strategies. This retreat day will provide participants with simple techniques to address impediments, including internal barriers/thoughts/feelings, that may keep us from writing. Participants will uncover processes for surpassing barriers and move from having ideas in their head to putting words on a page.

♦ July 17, Ready, Set, Flow: How to Make the Most of Your Writing Time
As a faculty member, do you sometimes feel “stuck” when you sit down to write, or simply distracted by a million other responsibilities? Given our numerous commitments as scholars, educators, and administrators, faculty can feel beleaguered by wider responsibilities and, in turn, be overwhelmed when sitting down to write. This retreat day will offer two key skills: how to quickly clarify what needs to be done in any given writing session; and how to cultivate the intrinsic motivation that is pivotal to regular writing.

By the close of the retreat, you will have networked with scholars from across the Corridor, mapped out your particular writing process, identified patterns that disrupt it, and developed a plan to move past those disruptors. You also will have made meaningful, measurable progress on your writing and have a clear strategy for quickly deciding what to focus on every time you sit down to write—so you can make the most of any writing session, no matter how short or long.

Who is eligible? Tenure-line faculty in the Humanities, broadly defined, at Cornell University, Syracuse University, the University of Rochester, or a NY6 Liberal Arts Consortium institution (Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Skidmore College, St. Lawrence University, Union College).

Especially encouraged to apply are:

  • Tenured faculty, including mid-career faculty (Associate Professors, recently tenured or in rank for a while);
  • Faculty who currently or historically have been in service-heavy administrative roles (including Full Professors);
  • Faculty of color, LGBTQ faculty, women faculty, and/or first-generation faculty.

Applicants should be interested in:

  • participating in a supportive professional network and cross-disciplinary scholarly community,
  • exploring new tools and writing strategies,
  • tackling writing obstacles and identifying research momentum strategies,
  • developing a particular writing/research project—or piece of a larger project—with the opportunity (to receive and to give) peer feedback. In the application, you will be asked to provide some details about your writing project and goals.

By the end of this retreat, each participant will:

  • have made significant, measurable progress on their writing project,
  • understand key barriers to effective writing and how they can impede writing and research momentum,
  • have implemented at least one strategy for addressing such barriers,
  • be able to integrate that strategy into their daily writing practice.


Apply Now


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Sample Schedule (subject to change; meals included)

Wednesday
12-2pm, Arrival & Check-in
Leisure/Free Time
Welcome Session

Thursday & Friday
Morning & Afternoon Workshops
Morning & Afternoon Writing Blocks
Leisure/Free Time

Saturday
Morning Wrap-up Session
Leisure/Free Time
Departures

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