Department Writing Fellow

Are you writing your first philosophy paper, and don’t know where to start? Are you unsure if your paper follows the writing and research norms of academic philosophy? Are you worried that your main argument isn’t coming across clearly or isn’t convincing? Are you struggling to organize all your ideas in a way that makes sense to the reader? Do you need a fresh perspective on your paper to spot potential objections that you might have missed? The Philosophy Department Writing Fellow (DWF) can help with all that.

The Philosophy Department Writing Fellow:

• Holds a “How to Write a Philosophy Paper” workshop at the beginning of each semester for any students taking philosophy courses.
• Meets with students directly, by appointment, to give feedback about papers they are working on for their philosophy classes.

Students taking philosophy courses can make an appointment with the Department Writing Fellow here.

A Message from Our Current Department Writing Fellow

Hi! My name is Denish Jaswal, and I’m serving as the Philosophy Department Writing Fellow this year. I’m excited to meet with you to work on philosophical writing together! I have been teaching in the department over the last 5 years and spent 4 years during my undergraduate working at our University Writing Center. I love working with students at any level, and welcome you to come visit whether you’re writing a senior thesis or are trying to figure out the quirks of a philosophy paper for your first philosophy course. Feel free to use the scheduler above to set a time to meet or email me at denishjaswal@g.harvard.edu to set an appointment at a different time. 

You can find slides from the Fall 2025 "How to Write a Philosophy Paper" Session here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lPZKKeg7mIbu0iWsgCDDMzYGUYQinBSz/view?usp=sharing

You might also find the following writing guides useful:

• https://philosophy.fas.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum4436/files/phildept/files/brief_guide_to_writing_philosophy_paper.pdf
• https://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html
• https://www.mit.edu/~yablo/writing.html

More Resources

There are many more resources here at Harvard for get support in developing your philosophy writing skills:

• PHIL 98: The Philosophy “Junior” Tutorial is designed to train students to write advanced philosophy research papers and to conduct philosophy research more independently.
• Harvard Writing Center (link): Enrolled Harvard College students can book an appointment with Harvard Writing Center tutors to get feedback on your writing for free of charge. This can be especially useful if your questions aren’t specifically about philosophy writing.
• Harvard Peer Tutoring (link): Enrolled Harvard College students can book an appointment with a peer tutor at no cost. Peer tutors are students who have previously taken a course you are currently enrolled in and can provide academic support specific to that course.