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The Write In: Grad Student Narratives

Dr. Julia Istomina 6 Episodes Sep 18, 2026

The Write In: Grad Student Narratives is a podcast from Yale that shares the experiences of PhD students as they navigate graduate school and academic writing. Host Dr. Julia Istomina, Associate Director of the Graduate Writing Lab at the Poorvu Center, talks with students about their personal journeys and the strategies they use to write and thrive. Each episode focuses on a specific theme or question drawn from a guest's story. Guests include Graduate Writing Lab Fellows who are in the later stages of their PhD or have recently earned their degrees. The conversations reflect on their time at Yale and how they handled particular challenges and opportunities along the way.

Episodes

Different Brains, Different Writing Practices with Dr. Vlad Chituc Sep 18, 2026 23:23 Vlad Chituc shares strategies for navigating academic writing norms for neurodivergent grad students This is the second part of a special 2-part episode of The Write In, featuring Dr. Vlad Chituc. Vlad doesn’t shy away from brain topics, and why would he? As a psychologist and recently minted PhD, Vlad thinks deeply about human cognition and behavior. But, also, Vlad reflects deeply on his experie

Better Collaborative Writing Together with Dr. Vlad Chituc Sep 18, 2026 38:23 In this episode, we explore collaborative writing models and practices between graduate students and their faculty co-authors. Vlad first describes collaborative writing as a standard practice in social science and science fields. Then, Vlad offers a unique live collaborative writing model that he and his faculty co-author tried out that led him to abandon the way he used to share and receive feed

Synergies, not Thorns: Sustaining Connection and Writing Support in Shared Disciplines through a “Group Consultation” Peer Model Dec 5, 2025 1:10:32 In today’s episode, I talk with a truly special group of scholars, Candace Borders, Alison Kibe, and Jeania Ree Moore. They met as Graduate Writing Fellows and connected by giving each other feedback on their writing. While they share academic fields and methodologies, their ethics of care and investment in each other’s work allowed them to try out a new form of peer-review group, as “group consul

Staying Embedded in University Life on Your Terms with Dana Hayward Jun 16, 2025 33:10 You’ve embarked on an Ivy Plus Exchange program to do archival research in Portland, Oregon in your fifth year as a Sociology PhD Candidate. Covid hits, the archives close, what are you going to do? In this episode, we hear Dana’s story about finding a place within university life after more than a decade of trials, tribulations, and ultimately, successes with her “pivoted” dissertation project. W

Leveraging Skillsets in Hydrology with Mario Soriano, Jr. Jun 16, 2025 27:43 When asked to give a presentation in your master’s program, Mario’s story shows that it could lead you to a doctoral program at Yale by way of a watershed connection and eventual mentorship with an interested professor. In this episode, Mario Soriano Jr. describes his educational pathway from his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines, to his master’s degre

Designing a Writing Process that Fits and Heals You, with Chihiro Larissa Jun 10, 2025 25:32 Are you an “Architect” or a “Scrounger” in your writing process, or maybe a little bit of both? Join Chihiro and me to talk about designing a holistic writing practice that meets your style and deadlines, especially for interdisciplinary research methods. Chihiro also talks about her efforts to promote wellness resources for graduate students and healing patients in hospital settings through music

The Write In: Grad Student Narratives

Episodes

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