When Theodore Christou (Education) attended the Faculty Writing Retreat last year, he gained further insight into the writing process and made excellent progress on a book proposal.  Importantly, he also found the scheduled time for interacting with colleagues very valuable.

During the time away from the conference rooms – coffee breaks and lunch – he was able to interact and talk with faculty from across Queen’s that he otherwise had little opportunity to meet.

“One of the better parts of the writing retreat was the social time,” he says. “That [opportunity] is in itself is invaluable for someone who teaches and conducts research like I do because you go from your classroom to your desk and sometimes don’t have interactions over a full day with people who are your colleagues at Queen’s.”

Building on the success of the first event, the Office of the Vice-Principal (Research) is once again hosting the Faculty Writing Retreat at the Donald Gordon Centre on Dec. 5.

A day-long event, the retreat features a panel and group discussions along with long blocks of uninterrupted writing time.

A year later, Dr. Christou has stayed in contact with a number of the colleagues from various departments and is once again looking forward to another positive experience.

“It set a good tone for me. Changing the routine, giving yourself space to be quiet, to think, and do things that are not part of the schedule,” he says. “I think it set a good precedent and I think drawing attention to the needs of faculty is vital to their research productivity.  Quiet time is always good for your productivity, but also having time to breathe and talk with people, to laugh and have lunch together, is something that I hope we can keep building on.”

A detailed schedule can be found on the OVPR website.

Registration closes on Nov. 25, or when all available spaces are filled – whichever comes first.