Reconsiderations: After The Idea of a Writing Center

Originally published in a 1984 issue of College English, Stephen North\u27s article The Idea of a Writing Center has over the years been much cited in writing center scholarship. Even so, this scholarship as a whole did not proceed to gain much presence in CE and other broadly-oriented composition journals. Reconsidering North\u27s piece, the authors argue for greater attention now to writing centers as sites for potentially valuable scholarly inquiry. (Contains 8 notes.

When Meaningful Writing Reflects Vincentian Values

In The Meaningful Writing Project – our study of over 700 seniors at three universities – students describe how education values are embodied in writing projects in and out of school. In brief, our results show that students find meaning when they are invited to tap into the power of personal connection, see what they are writing as applicable and relevant to the real world, imagine their future selves, immerse themselves in what they are thinking and writing about, and experience research for learning. In many cases, the experiences students reported are aligned with Vincentian values for higher education, namely participation in learning communities of service, stewardship and lifelong, integral development (Kelly, 2008)