Writing Center Tutors and Director to Present at MAWCA

The English Department here at UMBC is pleased to announce that three of our stellar tutors in the Writing Center—located on the first floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library—as well as Director of the Writing Center, Elaine MacDougall, will be travelling to Rowan University from March 23-24, 2018 to present at the Mid-Atlantic Writing Center Association (MAWCA) Conference.

“Notes from a Stanger in a Strange Land” Story Session

In a story session style presentation, I plan to explain how I find myself actively trying to dismantle some of the connotations that surround the Writing Center and how I place an importance on establishing acceptance and creating a safe space where individuals from every background feel that they have a safe space on campus. This is in part achieved by 1) being individual and 2) being accepting.

"Narrating Past Privilege Through Social Identity" Roundtable

In order to evaluate the perpetuation of dominant cultural values in writing, participants will have the opportunity to complete self-assessments to discover the degree of privilege that has affected them personally as well as explore their social identity in concrete terms. The group will collectively debrief after each assessment by engaging in a reflective dialogue and answering questions of how this activity has enlightened their position within the workplace and respectfully discuss dynamics that these differences may present. In other words, this roundtable offers interpersonal relations reflections of identity and privilege to better tutor-client relations via social conflict theory, evaluating and co-creating best practices to strengthen the author’s voice within narrative compositions.

  

"The Power of Silence and Stillness in Writing Center Conversations"

Many of our conversations today are fragmented and distracted due to our fast-paced, technological world. How can writing tutors then utilize silence and stillness to create mindful, non-judgmental sessions with their peers? This presentation will examine the ways in which creating a space where silence, stillness, and listening are encouraged can deepen our conversations and connections in the Writing Center, which could help reduce anxiety surrounding the writing process.