Paper Conferences

After every paper you write in Hum 110, you will have a “paper conference,” which is a on-one-one meeting with your conference leader.

Most students are initially apprehensive about these meetings, but come to appreciate them. These conversations are a valuable way of developing your ideas with your conference leader and of better understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your writing.

There are concrete steps you can take to prepare for a paper conference:

Re-read your paper and the paper comments if you have already received them (some conference leaders will return papers during the paper conference and go over their comments with you.)
Try to state the broad strokes of your argument out loud. This is a useful step in getting ready to discuss your paper.
Bring a few questions for your conference leader. For example, you might ask:
- What is the single most important thing I could do to improve this paper?
- What should I focus on in my next paper?
- During the meeting, write down advice you want to remember when you’re working on your next paper.