From left to right: April Mann, Ana Morgenstern, Anna Stoute, Koren Bedeau, and Maxime Larivé.

Staff at the Graduate School, Richter Library, and the Writing Center gathered recently in Albert Pick Hall on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus to celebrate the accomplishments of Dissertation Writing Group (DWG) participants. Since the group began in 2010, 11 participants have completed their dissertations and have earned doctoral degrees. Maxime Larivé and Ana Morgenstern, who are among the first participants to graduate, were presented with bound copies of their dissertations at the event.

“The DWG offers a place of cross-studies interactions, opening up your eyes on different types of research,” said Larivé. “It helped me to implement achievable weekly goals and ultimately complete my dissertation.”

Larivé thanked April Mann, director of the Writing Center, and Anna Stoute, head of education and outreach for University of Miami Libraries, for their support and efforts in making the group an academic home for its members.

The DWG was established in fall 2010 by Koren Bedeau, assistant dean of the Graduate School, in collaboration with Mann and Stoute to provide an expanded network of support to all UM doctoral students involved in the dissertation writing process. During weekly meetings, participants write and receive feedback from others who may or may not be in the same academic program.

“The DWG offered me the opportunity to structure my work in a way that made an enormous task seem tractable,” said Morgenstern. “I am so thankful to April, Anna, and Dr. Bedeau for this initiative. More than a program, DWG is truly a community-building initiative.”