Keynote: Notions of Writing Center Community and Some Challenges to Them

Authors

Carol Severino, The Universtiy of IowaFollow

Abstract

It is crucial for writing center professionals who discuss community to ask ourselves what we mean by the term as applied to writing centers. In this keynote, I explore various notions of community that are influenced by writing center growth, expansion, and complexity, especially in relation to Iowa’s writing center. After relating a personal story about our new tutors’ traditional notion of community and an account of our own center’s expansion and growing complexity over the decades, which challenges their traditional notion, I discuss other obstacles to community, bringing in the critiques of writing center scholars. Finally, I synthesize what I consider to be the most important bases on which to build writing center community today, focusing on the special I-Thou relationships writing center tutors form with students.

Recommended Citation

Severino, Carol (2023) "Keynote: Notions of Writing Center Community and Some Challenges to Them," Writing Center Journal: Vol. 41 : Iss. 2, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2832-9414.2021