If you are a graduate student in GSAS, you should contact Suzanne Smith, the graduate writing tutor, at gwriting@fas.harvard.edu to make an appointment.


I write to find out how much I know. The act of writing for me is a concentrated form of thought. - Don DeLillo

GSAS Writing Tutors aim to provide students with practical, goal-oriented assistance in improving their writing and editing skills, and to encourage an awareness of the relation between writing, reading, thinking and knowing. Tutors can help you to craft persuasive arguments, to develop your prose style, to use sources more effectively and to master the art of revision. GSAS students are welcome to contact a Writing Tutor to discuss their goals for becoming a more accomplished scholarly writer.

Although the approach may vary slightly from student to student, depending upon particular needs, the following guidelines pertain:

  1. IMPORTANT: Meetings are held in the Teaching Fellows Room on the mezzanine level of Dudley House (overlooking the main dining room). They are NOT held in the Writing Center.
  2. Tutors work with the following types of academic writing: essays, response papers, prospectuses, presentations and dissertations. They do not work with personal statements, cover letters, curricula vitae or fellowship proposals. Students should contact Dr.Cynthia Verba of GSAS for help with fellowship proposals and the Office of Career Services for help with professional documents. Students should inform their tutor, in advance of the appointment, as to what sort of writing project they are working on and should briefly describe the specific goals they hope to achieve in working with the tutor. Students should send a writing sample in advance or bring samples of their work to meetings.
  3. Tutors work with students on issues of structure, argument and style: depending on individual needs, they may help students expand (or limit) the scope and depth of their projects, especially focusing upon the research questions that guide the development of inquiry and on the use of sources. They do not do proofreading or copyediting. They can help identify major problems in your work, but they will not go through papers for the purpose of correcting errors in grammar, syntax and spelling. They can refer students to writers' guides and textbooks and to editors who provide proofreading services.
  4. Due to limitations in the number of staff, tutors currently work only with GSAS students.
  5. GSAS students may see a tutor as often as once a week (depending upon the availability of appointments), but they cannot sign up for multiple appointments at a time, or reserve slots for themselves throughout the semester. All appointments are made through email. If students do not reply as soon as possible to confirm a meeting time, that time cannot be held open.
  6. Tutors are not able to provide commentary on your work outside of meetings.
  7. GSAS policy states that "in the preparation of all papers and other written work, students should always take great care to distinguish their own ideas and knowledge from information derived from other sources. The term "sources" includes not only published primary and secondary material, but also information and opinions gained directly from other people." The pieces of information and opinions gained from tutors, like the pieces of information and opinions gained in any other context, constitute sources. If you have questions about how to properly acknowledge your sources, please let your tutor know.
  8. Drafts should be sent (as attachments in Word or PDF) at least 24 hours in advance, for papers or chapter sections of up to thirty pages, and a week in advance for longer pieces.