Founded in 1983, the Northeast Writing Centers Association (NEWCA) is a regional affiliate of the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA). Members include administrators and staff of writing centers and persons interested in writing centers. NEWCA membership consists of, but is not limited to, individuals from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
News & Upcoming Spring 2021 Events
New Opportunity: NEWCA Tutor Conversation Hours
What’s a Conversation Hour?
This is an opportunity for tutors from writing centers in our region (New England and New York) to come together (over Zoom) for an hour of informal conversation on any topic they choose. (No prep necessary!)
How does it work?
Tutors can choose a topic and host a conversation hour.
Examples might include:
- navigating the challenges of remote tutoring
- antiracism efforts in our writing centers
- social media and writing center promotion
- or any number of topics!
To propose a topic, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/7Pv7xbya74RP5Vin8
Then, watch for an email from us to confirm a date and time when you’d like to host this event, and we’ll publicize your Tutor Conversation Hour. Any interested tutors in our region are encouraged to host!
April 2021 Writing Center Administrators Virtual Conversation: Budgeting & Staffing Concerns
April 12 from 2-3pm: This is a chance for WC administrators to share concerns and strategies about budget crises and staffing issues in our current context.
Co-hosted by Amanda Fields, Director of the Central Connecticut State University Writing Center, and Meaghan Elliott Dittrich, Director of the Connors Writing Center at the University of New Hampshire. Zoom link: https://unh.zoom.us/j/96436791507
The NEWCA/ECWCA Book Club Registration is Now Open!
The Northeast Writing Centers Association (NEWCA) is partnering with ECWCA for a Book Club! We’ll be reading The Things We Carry: Strategies for Recognizing and Negotiating Emotional Labor in Writing Program Administration (https://upcolorado.com/utah-state-university-press/item/3869-the-things-we-carry) edited by Courtney Adams Wooten, Jacob Babb, Kristi Murray Costello, and Kate Navickas. You can receive a discount on the book with the code SMLLBLKBS ordered through Utah State UP (use the link above).
If you’d like to participate in one of these discussion groups, please register using one of the links below and the group facilitator will get in touch and provide a Zoom meeting link.
- Wednesdays 11 – noon ET on 2/24, 3/24, & 4/21 with facilitator Beth Sabo. Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfuuTxwTbv36reQYyrpOyrorRB6zE_UPkMM4VwcvUJHxxnGAg/viewform?usp=sf_link
- Thursdays 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET on 2/25, 3/25, & 4/22 with facilitator Marilee Brooks-Gillies. Register here: https://iu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cAZNEIqBjHdUtHU
- Fridays 4:30 – 5:30 PM ET on 2/26, 3/26, & 4/23 with facilitator Genie Giaimo. Register here: http://middlebury.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iwwB3NHzoJ8qwe
- Students* only, Fridays 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET on 3/5, 4/2, & 4/30 with facilitator Brandilyn Worrell. Register here: https://iu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1ETHhnF1cjhRvkG
- *Students can join any group, but we have a specific group for only students in case that will be of interest.
Sign up for Virtual Conversations about Writing Center/Library Collaborations
On January 21, NEWCA hosted a Writing Center/Library Faculty/Staff Conversation: Let’s Chat!: Integrating Research & Writing Services. Over the past few years, Kate Tirabassi & Elizabeth Dolinger worked to merge library’s research services with the writing center’s services at Keene State College, resulting in a newly named Center for Research & Writing. During this virtual conversation, we shared some lessons learned through our integration, offered a writing prompt, and talked together in small and large groups. We look forward to ongoing conversations between library and writing center faculty/staffs interested in doing similar work.
Zoom Recording: If you were unable to attend the January 21st session, but would like to view it, please click here for the Zoom recording.
Sign up for Small Group Conversations: If you were unable to attend but would like to be involved in ongoing conversations this Spring on topics related to library/writing center collaborations, please fill out this GoogleForm and we’ll be in touch with your group about setting specific meeting times.
Past 2020-21 Events:
NEWCA Webinar with R. Mark Hall!
Webinar Title: Reconsidering the Concept of “Communities of Practice” presented by R. Mark Hall, PhD, Professor & Chair, UNC Charlotte Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies Department
March 4, 2021, 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Zoom Recording + Audio/Chat Transcripts: https://keene.zoom.us/rec/share/eXQOM9PXTutXGvCZU3utwprOWODVOedFG8OW8SiVO8JA9GiSIAceXfMv9h5pp9zS.WZfAIN2fg6gqPS3w
Kaltura Link to Recording + Live Caption Transcript: https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/420171/uiconf_id/33137141/entry_id/1_8r1bdf6p/embed/dynamic#t=00:04
Webinar Description: The concept of “communities of practice” has a long association with Writing Center Studies. It is a theory of learning, which has been written about, read about, talked about, and applied in a multitude of contexts for 30 years. In his recent book, Around the Texts of Writing Center Work: An Inquiry-Based Approach to Tutor Education, winner of the 2018 International Writing Centers Association Outstanding Book Award, R. Mark Hall examines the values and assumptions underpinning a writing center “community of practice.” In this interactive presentation, he will revisit this important concept. Because its frequent use–perhaps over-use–has generated some confusion about both its affordances and its constraints, one goal will be to examine more recent research on “communities of practice” to better understand how its principles can be applied to advance writing center work.
Presenter Biography:
R. Mark Hall is professor and chair of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies Department (WRDS). He has led writing centers at the University of Central Florida, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and California State University, Chico. Research interests include literacy practices in popular culture, teacher and tutor education, writing program administration and assessment, and transfer of learning. Hall has published chapters in several edited collections and articles in College English, The Writing Center Journal, WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, Composition Forum: A Journal of Pedagogical Theory in Rhetoric and Composition, and others. He is the author of Around the Texts of Writing Center Work: An Inquiry-Based Approach to Tutor Education, winner of the 2018 International Writing Centers Association Outstanding Book Award. Hall also writes occasional creative nonfiction, which has recently appeared in The Timberline Review, Lunch Ticket, The Sand Hills Literary Magazine,Passengers Journal, Hippocampus Magazine, The Fourth River, and others.
January Writing Center Administrator Virtual Conversations
Friday, January 15, 2-3pm: Writing Center Administrators’ Conversation #1: Reflecting on Fall, Looking Toward Spring. This was an informal opportunity to talk with colleagues about how things went for our centers this Fall and what goals/challenges we’re facing this Spring.
Fall 2020 Events:
December 15, 9-10am: NH WC Administrators’ Book Club: Claude Steele’s Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. Contact Molly Parsons at Molly.Parsons@keene.edu for more info!
November 24 12-1pm: Tutor Conversation Hour: Building Rapport & Writer Confidence, hosted by Keene State College Center for Research & Writing’s tutor Sarah Flynn. Join the conversation via the following link: https://keene.zoom.us/j/9690997408
November 9: 3pm: Conversation Hour for NH & NY Tutors:
Contact NEWCA’s NH State Representative: Molly Parsons (Molly.Parsons@keene.edu) if you have any questions about the following NEWCA state event.
Interested NH & NY tutors can join the conversation with this link
