Three of our tutors attended and presented at the Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) Conference in Greenville, N.C. on February 6th – 8th. The keynote speaker for the conference was Dr. Vershawn Young, who spoke about the pressures of code-switching and the advantages of code-meshing.
From Left to Right: Leland March, Valerie Edwards, Dr. Vershawn Young, and Jenee’ Phillips
The tutors’ presentation was titled “Peer-Tutoring at an HBCU and Dominant Rhetorics: A Case Study.” Dr. Gavaskar and Ms. Miller discussed the origins of ECSU’s QEP Writing Studio, and provided the audience with data they collected during the Fall 2013 semester. Jenee’, Valerie, and Leland discussed the importance of encouraging students to use their own language, and their own experiences as writers and tutors. They addressed questions such as: What does it mean to be a tutor? What impact does a tutor make in their community? How will tutoring benefit tutors in the future? Why is there a separation among Caucasians and African Americans in academic writing? What are different tutoring session approaches that can be utilized by tutors?
From Left to Right: Jenee’ Phillips, Valerie Edwards, Ms. Miller, and Leland March
Jenee’ and Valerie ended the presentation with an activity. They asked audience members to break up into groups and respond to various questions they had written down on poster board. All participants were thrilled that the Keynote speaker, Dr. Young, attended the presentation!
Audience members at the Conference (Far Left: Keynote speaker Dr. Vershawn Young; Far Right: Dr. Karen Keaton-Jackson)
The QEP Writing Studio at ECSU 