Carol Severino, Writing Center Director
Welcome to the web page for the oldest writing center in the United States!
The University of Iowa Writing Center was started by Carrie Stanley in 1934, and has a long-standing tradition of one-to-one instruction in rhetorical and communication skills. An understanding of how discourse, whether of writing, speaking, reading, or listening, is both purpose- and audience-driven has been a hallmark of the Writing Center and its host department, Rhetoric. We are located in room 110 of the English-Philosophy Building, by the Iowa River.
Graduate students who have excelled in writing and who come from the departments of English, Communication Studies, and Rhetoric serve as our tutors, looking at their students' writing in the context of their development as writers. Students interested in developing their academic or personal writing style can sign up to work in the center for an entire semester at a time. The student and the tutor meet twice a week for a 50-minute session. For students who prefer only one 50-minute session, we also offer appointments a few nights a week.
Tutors are oriented not to "fix" individual papers but rather to assist writers in improving their strategies of researching, organizing, drafting, editing, and revising. All levels of discourse are addressed, from idea development and brainstorming to word choice and comma placement. The quality instruction that the tutors provide allows for a mentoring relationship to develop between tutor and student. At the Writing Center, we believe that writing and thinking are processes that involve talking things through and revising.
All writers, even Pulitzer Prize winners, benefit from feedback on their drafts. Among the questions we address are: What are my options for approaching this assignment? Am I making myself clear? Is my argument convincing? Is my claim or story believable? Did I fulfill the criteria of the assignment? Are there other ways I can present and organize this material? Is my language too technical for my audience? Whenever you have a gnawing sensation that something is not right, our tutors can help you to figure out what writing techniques would serve you best.
We are proud of our Writing Center's demographic diversity with its international and multi-ethnic participants. Every semester, students from ten to fifteen different language backgrounds and countries enroll. We are also proud of our genre diversity, in that we will assist with autobiographical essays, fiction, literary criticism, rhetoric assignments, research papers, biology lab reports, fine arts reviews, and theses and dissertations in almost every field.
Every semester we produce a journal of student writing, VOICES from the University of Iowa Writing Center. Some of the submissions for our publication are written at the center in response to "invitations" to write. At the end of the semester, the Writing Center sponsors a "reading" during which the authors of VOICES pieces can read their work to an interested Writing Center audience.
The torch of the Writing Center has passed from the directorship of Cleo Martin in the 1950s and 1960s, to Lou Kelley during 1965-1989, to Allison York during 1989-1991, and then to me, Carol Severino. I am such a strong believer in the possibility of the creative process that I play the drums in a rock band called "Rough Draft." And I am a strong believer in the benefits of the Writing Center for every interested individual.
So come on by any Monday to Thursday, 9:30 to 3:30, and check us out, or sign up for an appointment on the sheet posted on the Writing Center door. If you want to sign up for the whole semester, we strongly encourage you to come during the first few days of the semester. We fill up fast, but we also maintain an active waiting list, which we do our best to accommodate. If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail us at writing-center@uiowa.edu.
Carol at the drums with her band, "Rough Draft"