Bruce Pegg and Jonathan Benda, Writing Program, College of Arts and Sciences

The Writing Center at Syracuse provides a space for interdisciplinary knowledge making and for development of academic literacy practices and attracts students from around the University and from a range of backgrounds (in terms of gender, class, ethnicity, age, life experience, etc.). This diversity among users of the Center presents us with the opportunity and need to engage issues of how we can represent diversity in the writing practices of the academy. This Vision Fund project will address that need through two initiatives that would (1) actively recruit, train, and employ peer writing tutors whose diversity of backgrounds is more closely representative of that of the student body; and (2) prepare, initiate, and facilitate university-wide discussions and training sessions that directly inquire into the relationship between diversity and academic writing. In the first initiative, peer tutors will be recruited to work in the Writing Center. In the second, faculty from both the Writing Program and from around the University will have an opportunity to communicate and negotiate their perspectives and values pertaining to academic writing. The results of both these initiatives will be shared with the University community through printed and online publications and through workshops and a one-day conference.