About Workshops
In 1982, the University of Chicago pioneered a new dimension in graduate education—interdisciplinary workshops that bring together students and faculty in the Divinity School, Humanities Division, and the Social Sciences Division for ongoing and collaborative exchange of ideas around particular areas of interest. By providing graduate students with a forum for presenting their research and writing, workshops have become an integral part of the UChicago graduate education experience and have been widely replicated at other universities. They facilitate the dissertation-writing process, encourage rigorous engagement with participants' own and one another's work through discussion, debate, evaluation, and critical feedback, and foster vibrant intellectual communities where graduate students and faculty develop lasting scholarly relationships. In addition to regularly scheduled seminar-style meetings, workshops may organize reading groups, exhibition visits, film or concert screenings, fieldwork activities, conferences, and other collaborative events.
History of the Advanced Studies Workshops
The Workshop Program was established following the 1982 Baker Report of the Commission on Graduate Education, which introduced the existing workshop system as a central component of graduate education at the University of Chicago. In 2025, the Deans of the Divinity School, the Division of the Humanities, and the Division of the Social Sciences convened the first comprehensive review of the workshop system since its founding. Following a survey of graduate students, faculty, and department chairs, the Workshop Review Committee submittedrecommendations that led to the creation of a renewed funding and application process. Today, workshops are supported through a competitive review process administered jointly by the three divisions, ensuring the continued vitality of this long-standing tradition of interdisciplinary graduate education while maintaining its core principles.
Constituencies and Processes
Workshops may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary and vary in both format and duration. They may be longstanding or short-lived, meet frequently or occasionally, serve as venues for sharing works in progress, function as reading or working groups, or combine several of these approaches. Regardless of their structure, successful workshops provide graduate students with meaningful opportunities to engage with faculty and fellow students in discussion of evolving research interests and to participate actively in the intellectual life of the University.
Workshops are supported through a competitive funding process administered by the Divinity School, the Division of the Arts & Humanities, and the Division of the Social Sciences. Faculty sponsors and graduate student coordinators collaborate to submit proposals outlining the workshop's purpose, graduate student participation, planned activities, and proposed budget. Workshops are funded for a defined term and may submit a new application for future funding at the conclusion of that period.