Conversations Near and Far


Higher Education, International Writing Centers, IWCA, Peer Tutoring, UW-Madison Writing Center Alumni Voices, Writing Center Research, Writing Centers

I’ve considered myself a “writing center person” for over twenty years now, ever since I anxiously took my first college paper to my undergraduate writing center and left with a few concrete ideas for revision and the sense that I might actually be able to do the whole college thing. I eventually became a writing […]

September 24, 2012

Writing Across the Curriculum in Madison’s Summer Sun


From the Director, Graduate Students, Higher Education, Outreach, Science Writing, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Research, Writing Centers

During the searing heat and drought that the summer of 2012 has brought to the upper midwest, our Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) program has been busy (inside comfortably air-conditioned buildings) partnering with faculty and other instructors across our campus in exciting new collaborations.  At the same time, our summer writing center has been hopping with lots of […]

July 30, 2012

New Podcast Presentations by Katrin Girgensohn


Collaborative Learning, From the Director, Higher Education, International Writing Centers, Madison Area Writing Center Colloquium, Peer Tutoring, Podcasts, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Research, Writing Centers

All of us at the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are delighted to share two new podcasts from our theory and research series, featuring Katrin Girgensohn, a faculty member and Director of the Writing Center at European University Viadrina in Germany and one of the leading writing center scholars in Europe. During 2011-12, […]

June 21, 2012

Joint Staff Meeting 2012: Bringing It All Together


Disability and Writing Centers, Multilingual Writers, Writing Center Research, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Centers, Writing Fellows

On Friday, February 17 the Writing Fellows Program hosted our annual Joint Staff Meeting with the Writing Center. Seven Writing Fellows gave presentations based on research they conducted for their English/Interdisciplinary Courses 316 class. Writing Center instructors served as moderators for each presentation and posed questions designed to help audience members delve more deeply into […]

February 28, 2012

The Madison Area Writing Center Colloquium


Big 10 Writing Centers, Community Writing Assistance, Disability and Writing Centers, Events, From the Director, Graduate Students, International Writing Centers, IWCA, Madison Area Writing Center Colloquium, Midwest Writing Centers Association, Student Voices, The Online Writing Center, UW-Madison Writing Center Alumni Voices, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Research, Writing Center Workshops, Writing Centers, Writing Fellows

I’ve long argued that writing centers at research universities should prepare interested doctoral students to lead strong, innovative writing centers and WAC programs when they move into their faculty careers.  And that we should do this in systematic and sustained ways.  Being a dedicated, successful, experienced writing tutor is of course a necessary part of […]

February 20, 2012

Writing Center Websites and Their Discontents or Dissing the Contents of Your Own Writing Center Website


Graduate Students, Technology, The Online Writing Center, Writing Center Research, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Fellows

All Graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs) who are beyond their first semester of tutoring in UW-Madison’s Writing Center participate in professional development opportunities, known as Ongoing Education opportunities, affectionately, as an “OGE.” At the start of a semester, Teaching Assistants will often see a description at the top of an OGE selection form that reads as […]

February 14, 2012

Exciting Things Going on in Germany


International Writing Centers, Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Center Research, Writing Center Tutors, Writing Centers, Writing Fellows

As a visiting scholar from Germany at the UW-Madison Writing Center, I sometimes feel jealous of all the things going on here. Having a writing center with 110 people working as writing fellows, writing consultants and as leadership staff, and, even more important, experiencing how the writing center is valued here at the university, seems […]

February 6, 2012