August 23, 2017

Welcome from the Director

Harry Denny, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, English
Director, Writing Lab

This year, summer on Purdue's campus involved navigating what felt like an endless field of construction barriers as the State Street Project and various construction projects kicked into high gear while most of the students and faculty left campus. With their return over the last couple weeks, roads and sidewalks re-opened revealing invigorated streetscape, transformed spaces and new building. This spirit of renewal and invigoration extends to teaching, learning, and research happening in the Writing Lab. This newsletter represents a new initiative to further reach our stakeholders—students, faculty, advisors, staff, administration—and to build greater awareness of all that happening in and around the Writing Lab and about our amazing crew of tutors and professionals.

As we reflect on the academic year that was and anticipate the one to come, the staff is excited to discover that demand for sessions in the Writing Lab continues to grow, that insight on who seeks out tutoring and to what impact those sessions have on our clients deepens, and that the global reach and profile of the OWL continues to grow. This past year, the OWL traffic surpassed 410 million pages views, and traffic for sessions ticked up 30 percent. In addition to this everyday work in the Writing Lab, we held conversation groups and workshops for both multilingual writers and graduate students. In the midst of all this collaboration and digital learning, we also continued our outreach to the Military Family Research Institute and other campus partners, fostering writing groups and workshops that address a wide variety of campus needs. For this coming fall term, we anticipating more of all activity in and around the Writing Lab, and tutors and staff alike gearing up to present their research projects at the Chicago meeting of the International Writing Centers Association.

Just like the streets of late in the Greater Lafayette region, the Writing Lab is a work in progress, always striving to adapt and evolve to better meet the needs of our campus and to challenge our campus to think, teach, and learn differently through and with writing.

Upcoming Events

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English Conversation Groups
August 28th – December 8th
If you are a Purdue University student or scholar whose first language is not English, the Writing Lab's conversation groups are a terrific way to improve your fluency and expand your vocabulary. Sign up online »

Workshop: Résumés
Sept. 6, 1:30 – 2:30 PM
Whether you're going onto the job market or applying for graduate school, bring a draft of your résumé or come ready with a laptop to make one. Learn more »

Staff Spotlight

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By Rebekah S., Tutor

I'm starting my second year of work at the Purdue Writing Lab. I'm a PhD student in rhetoric and composition, a branch of English studies dedicated to teaching writing, among other things. I stumbled into rhet/comp on accident as an 18-year-old freshman music major trying to fulfill a gen ed requirement with the class that fit my schedule. After teaching high school special education for a few years, I decided to join the field on purpose, for the long haul. I'm passionate about working at the Writing Lab because I get the chance to work with writers from all over the university. My research interests include first-year writing pedagogy, teaching intercultural competence, and how religion spreads on the internet.

From Our Partners

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AAARCC, LCC, and NAECC Fall Open House
August 31, 2017 - 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Cultural Centers' Outdoor Grounds

Fall kick-off event to welcome new and returning Purdue students, faculty, and staff. Join us as we open our doors and learn about the many resources and opportunities available to the campus community.

Writing Tip of the Week

"If I'm at the final stages of a paper but have trouble finishing, I've learned to listen to my body and take a break regardless of how close I am to the finish line. Pushing myself too far is unproductive."

-Elizabeth G., Tutor

Book of the Week

Gallery of Best Résumés by David F. Noble

Recommended by April U., Tutor

This book is a useful tool for discussing resume formatting and design with clients, as it contains a variety of great examples organized by different professional fields.

You can find this book in the Writing Lab's library. Just ask the front desk.