The Oregon State University (OSU) Writing Center: History and Context provides a detailed and multi-faceted view of the Writing Center from its start in 1976 through the present. The information was gathered from interviews, annual reports, archival sources, and scholarly research. Chapter One examines the scholarly conversation about writing centers, drawing on several major contributors to identify a number of themes that recur in research on writing centers and their history Chapter One also describes the cultural historiographic approach employed in this thesis. Chapter Two offers an overview of writing center theory and practice, in order to provide a helpful context for Chapters Three and Four. Chapter Three explores the early history and pre-history of the OSU Writing Center and examines it in the context of the Center for Writing and Learning and of OSU. Chapter Four looks at the Writing Center itself, discussing the coordinators who have worked there and their contributions, the writing assistants and their training, the students, and the director's role in the Center. Chapter Five concludes this thesis by reexamining the writing center themes identified in Chapter One in light of what has been learned about the OSU Writing Center. Various appendices provide supplemental data
