Presentation/Proposal Title
Toward a Safer Space: Survivor Allies in the Writing Center
Type of Presentation/Proposal
Workshop
Start Date
5-4-2019 11:00 AM
End Date
5-4-2019 12:00 PM
Keywords
tutor education, survivor allies, Title IX, critical listening
Description
As we continue to interrogate the “grand narrative” of the writing center, recent studies have begun to acknowledge the writing center as a deeply complex and political space through innovative approaches to tutor education. This is boldly evident in the 2017 special issue of The Peer Review, “Writing Centers as Brave/r Spaces,” which continues critical conversations initiated by such postmodern theorists as Nancy Grimm and Harry Denny.
Amongst this scholarship a gap exists regarding how to support survivors of gender-based violence in the writing center, an undeniably essential topic in our current political and social climate. On college campuses, one in three of sexual assault survivors are first-year students (Perez and Gallardo 6), and at the same time first-year students frequently constitute a high percentage of writing center clients. This offers peer tutors, students whose classification as "responsible employees" varies according to each university's interpretation and implementation of current Title IX regulations, a critical potential opportunity to build relationships with and offer meaningful support to survivors.
Informed by a partnership with Loyola’s Senior Health Educator and Advocacy Coordinator, this interactive workshop focuses on how we can move toward creating a safer space for disclosures within our centers and within tutoring sessions themselves. We will practice offering survivors both emotional support, including critical listening and empathizing, and tangible aid. Participants will leave the workshop with increased confidence and information about how to support and empower survivors in the writing center.
Toward a Safer Space: Survivor Allies in the Writing Center
M2225
As we continue to interrogate the “grand narrative” of the writing center, recent studies have begun to acknowledge the writing center as a deeply complex and political space through innovative approaches to tutor education. This is boldly evident in the 2017 special issue of The Peer Review, “Writing Centers as Brave/r Spaces,” which continues critical conversations initiated by such postmodern theorists as Nancy Grimm and Harry Denny.
Amongst this scholarship a gap exists regarding how to support survivors of gender-based violence in the writing center, an undeniably essential topic in our current political and social climate. On college campuses, one in three of sexual assault survivors are first-year students (Perez and Gallardo 6), and at the same time first-year students frequently constitute a high percentage of writing center clients. This offers peer tutors, students whose classification as "responsible employees" varies according to each university's interpretation and implementation of current Title IX regulations, a critical potential opportunity to build relationships with and offer meaningful support to survivors.
Informed by a partnership with Loyola’s Senior Health Educator and Advocacy Coordinator, this interactive workshop focuses on how we can move toward creating a safer space for disclosures within our centers and within tutoring sessions themselves. We will practice offering survivors both emotional support, including critical listening and empathizing, and tangible aid. Participants will leave the workshop with increased confidence and information about how to support and empower survivors in the writing center.
