Mission Statement
Promoting equitable and inclusive access, “Grad School Application Essays: How to Write, and Help to Do It!” is designed for all students applying to graduate school and exploring the possibilities graduate school offers. In this support series, experienced University Writing Program faculty will guide students searching for future career opportunities that require advanced degrees by teaching the “hidden” curriculum of professional communication in graduate school applications. We provide writing support for students applying to graduate school through a series of workshops, writing labs, and 1:1 faculty mentoring focused on all forms of the application essay. We welcome students at any stage of the writing process! This support service is free of charge.
Fall 2024 Schedule
Grad App Mentors
| Mentor Name | Email Contact | Compositional Specialties/ Areas of Interest |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. John Acker | johna@ucr.edu | Professional nerd. Specialties in business writing, copyediting/proofreading, religion and literature, and 19th-century American literature. |
| Dr. Jennie Friedrich | jfrie005@ucr.edu | MA in English/Writing with a creative emphasis, and experience with psychology and genres of writing relating to fundraising (not strictly grants); medieval history and literature; disability studies; dogs and dog training; music and creative writing; records and turntables |
| Dr. Stephanie Fousek | sfous001@ucr.edu | Personal narrative, creative nonfiction, Latin American literature, psychology, meditation/ mindfulness, printmaking |
| Dr. Kathy Hardun | khard004@ucr.edu | Medieval literature and history, Early Modern literature, queer theory and LGBTQ+ history, French, science writing, application materials (job, graduate school, etc.). |
| Dr. Richard Hunt | richard.hunt@ucr.edu | Science fiction film and literature (Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and DC movies, SF TV, and lots of novels and short stories); Music and performance; Spoken word poetry and 20th century American |
| Dr. Anne Sullivan | anne.sullivan@ucr.edu | Nineteenth-century British literature; media history and theory; visual culture; print and material culture; children’s literature; environmental humanities; science and technology studies. Personal interests include photography, pottery, and geeking out about TV shows and movies. |
| Dr. Todd Luce | tluce002@ucr.edu | Environmental history and history of the American west, borderlands, and Southern California. Personal narrative, noir fiction, and post-colonial literature are areas of great interest. |
| Dr. Raymund Papica | rpapi001@ucr.edu |
Program Lead for the Buscadores Grad App Writing Support and Writing Across the Curriculum. Specializes in medieval and early modern literature, graphic novels, comics, science writing, science fiction, and digital media (film, games, etc.). |
| Dr. Vlad Sirbu | vlad.sirbu@email.ucr.edu |
English as a second language, science fiction, science and technology, literature and media, global studies. |
| Dr. Clare O’Brien | clare.obrien@email.ucr.edu |
Research interests include: popular and traditional musics; ethnography; oral history; transnationalism; Japanese migration; Brazilian history; gender and sexuality studies; phenomenology; grant writing and other job materials. Personal interests include early childhood education, nature in Southern California. |