Summer Dissertation Writing Retreat - Itasca

Image of a person on a kayak on Lake Itasca in the evening

Announcement and Call for Applications
August 5-9, 2024

The Center for RIDGS (Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, and Sexuality) Studies is hosting a writing retreat for graduate students for one week of concentrated writing time (applicants working on projects other than their dissertation will still be considered). We encourage applications from UMN dissertation writers who are broadly engaged with and/or committed to addressing in their research some of the most pressing socio-economic issues and inequalities of our time.

Retreat Description

The writing retreat will span Monday, August 5- Friday, August 9, 2024  and will take place at the University of Minnesota’s Itasca Biological Station on Lake Itasca. We will work on our dissertations, sleep in comfortable cabins, and participate in recreational activities. We will have warm-up activities and writing prompts to facilitate writing. RIDGS will provide all meals for each day of the retreat and will cover all transportation and lodging expenses.

For more information about the lodging at the Biological Station, visit this website. The cabins are nice and comfy, although please be advised that participants may have to sleep two to a room. 

Application Requirements

The application deadline is Friday, May 10. We will notify applicants of their status by Wednesday, May 22.

  1. Graduate Student Signed Application Form, which you can download and sign.
  2. . Prepare an approximately one-page abstract or description of your current writing project.
  3. Prepare a 200-400 word plan of what you intend to accomplish during the retreat. Be as specific as possible. Include details about which sections of your writing you will work on, what exactly you will do as part of that work, and what quantitative changes you intend to have made by the end of the retreat. If you are unable to attend one of the Retreat days, please let us know here; we may be able to arrange exceptions.
  4. Please combine all of these documents into one PDF in the following order:
    1. Application Form
    2. Abstract
    3. Plan

Name the file according to this naming convention: lastname_RIDGS Summer Retreat Application 2024. Email that PDF to ridgs@umn.edu by Friday, May 10 at noon.

Retreat Expectations

  • Attend the retreat for the entire week
  • Avoid the internet or email during the working hours of the retreat
  • Acutely focus on writing your dissertations with sustained writing time
  • Actively participate in writing warm-ups and discussions
  • Engage in community-building activities and assist with logistics
For questions, please email ridgs@umn.edu.