Officials say changes to the Writing Studio--implemented at the beginning of the semester and geared toward increasing exposure to the program--have been a success, although not as many students have witnessed the changes as they would have hoped.
Since September, the Writing Studio has allowed students to choose some of the subjects for the writing workshops, which are one-hour sessions dedicated to topics such as editing and proofreading and avoiding plagiarism. In addition, students can now determine the times and meeting places for the workshops--a change Director of the Writing
Studio Vicki Russell said caters more to students' needs.
Another component of the changes to the Writing Studio is the addition of the Writer's Cafe--a forum for writers to display their creative works. As always, the Writing Studio also continues to offer individual tutoring sessions for students who set up appointments through the studio's updated website.
"Students have expressed considerable interest in the Writer's Cafe, although attendance has varied," said Kelly Benhase, an instructor in the first-year writing program and longtime tutor for the Writing Studio. "I've learned that Duke has a number of enthusiastic undergraduate poets. The Writer's Cafe can be invaluable to them. So far, writers--both students and faculty--have brought in poetry as well as drafts of an essay and a book chapter."
Benhase said the Writer's Cafe welcomes all members of the Duke community and is meant to provide a "space and support for individual writers to form a community of writers." The Cafe is held on East Campus the first and third Friday of every month.
Russell said this year's increased flexibility in writing workshops has been met with positive reviews.
"We're willing to go to Writing 20 classrooms and do workshops or even offer workshops for varsity athletes in Schwartz-Butters," Russell said.
Benhase said the system of allowing students to request workshops at particular times has worked well.
"It is difficult for us to anticipate, for example, when in the semester students might need a workshop on style," she said. "This way, we can directly meet students' needs."
Benhase added that even those students who cannot make the workshops can receive help. "We can also continue to work one-on-one with students who can't come when a workshop is offered," she said.
The main goal of the Writing Studio has always been to attract students from all writing backgrounds and to encourage excellence through tutoring sessions and workshops.
In tutoring sessions, tutors first ask students what they wish to accomplish during the appointment and then help students attain those goals. If, for example, the student has a working draft of an essay, the tutor would most likely have the student read the essay aloud and then proceed to correct any organization, content or style issues.
But to those only out to get help earning an 'A' on a particular essay, Russell said the Writing Studio's "main goal is to create better writers, not necessarily more effective essays."
Benhase noted that the Writing Studio has become an indispensable part of Duke's writing culture. Both she and Russell said, however, that they are still hoping to attract more writers.
"It's sad when we get students as seniors that say, 'Wow, I wish I had done this before,'" Russell said.
Appointments for individual tutoring sessions and workshops can be made through the studio's website at www.ctlw.duke.edu/wstudio.
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