Humanities Writing Retreat

From May 8 to 12, a group of 35 scholars, consisting of faculty and doctoral students, convened at UF’s tranquil Austin Cary Forest Campus for a week-long intense writing retreat. This change in environment, away from the usual campus and home settings, enabled focus and reorientation toward scholarly writing after a busy year. Among the attendees were both regulars who have attended the Retreat since its inception and newcomers who joined UF during the pandemic. Projects undertaken during the retreat encompassed co-authored books, book proposals, articles, dissertation and book chapters, funding proposals, and book reviews. Notably, past participants have successfully completed published book chapters, books, book proposals, funding proposals, and conference papers. The retreat offered the writers the opportunity to reconnect and rebuild relationships with colleagues from various units after a prolonged period of isolation caused by the pandemic.

This occasion marked the first time that the Writing Retreat and the Humanities Graduate Summer Institute were held in the same place. Both events brought together about 50 doctoral students and faculty members for a week of collaboration, fostering informal mentoring sessions. A visit by Maria LaMonaca Wisdom (Duke University), who delivered a public lecture on mentoring and offered coaching sessions for graduate students and junior faculty, solidified the positive outcomes of the week.