Joshua Smart, a philosophy graduate student at the University of Missouri, is coordinating the formation of virtual discussion groups for dissertation writers. He writes:

Here’s the basic setup. Interested students can fill out the contact form… and at the beginning of each semester I will email all participants with the information for their three-membered group. Each full month of the semester, one member of the group will submit some of their in-progress dissertation work to the others. Those other members will then email comments in response, hopefully generating some fun exchanges in the process. I’ll send out email reminders when it’s time to circulate work and return comments.

In order to maximize the usefulness of these groups, here are some general guidelines.

• Circulated writing should be kept to around 5,000 words
• Writing should be related to one’s dissertation, as this is the basis for groupings
• Comments should be returned within 10 days
• Comments should be constructive and encouraging

You can sign up here.