Movement and Metamorphosis: The (Non-)Spaces of Writing Center Work

Daniel Floyd, University of Cincinnati, NCPTW co-chair

Maggie Herb, SUNY Buffalo State University, IWCA co-chair

Conversations about space–physical, metaphorical, theoretical or possible–have been woven throughout writing center studies over the years. Writing center scholars have explored the physical space of writing centers (Hadfield et al., 2003; Carpenter et al. 2013; Zammarelli & Beebe, 2019; Kjesrud, 2021; Azima, 2022), as well as the way that writing center spaces may function within the institution. Writing center spaces have been theorized as liminal (Sunstein, 1998), as contact zones (Monty, 2016), as third spaces (Burns, 2009; Wittman, 2023). And, memorably, twenty years ago in her article “Leaving Home Sweet Home: Toward Critical Readings of Writing Center Spaces,” Jackie Grutsch McKinney (2005) implored us to look “at” rather than “through” the spaces writing centers occupy (18). Here and in her subsequent text Peripheral Visions of Writing Centers, she problematizes the narratives and metaphors often associated with writing centers as spaces/places, particularly those that characterize writing centers as comfortable, cozy homes. Other scholars have expanded on this critique, pointing to the myriad ways that the “home” metaphor can be exclusionary and can both mask and reinforce racist and colonialist power structures (Garcia, 2017; Camarillo, 2019; Faison 2019; Hutchinson & Torres Perdigón, 2024). And recently–particularly in the post-Covid 2020s–discussion of the need to reimagine our notions of writing center spaces (or non-spaces, to reference Marc Augé’s notion of non-place that he argues characterizes the late capitalist landscape) have been particularly exigent, especially as more writing centers operate in and with online environments. 

       While this forced reckoning brings with it challenges, it may also point to new possibilities: Genie Giaimo (2023) describes the importance of “think[ing] about ways— outside of space—that the writing center can build community. This might include moving around campus, especially outdoors, and into the community around our institution” (40). And Shannon Brooks (2024) argues that the state of “centerlessness” that many experienced as a result of the pandemic may ultimately “provid[e] insights into how we might move forward to different, always emergent, and unrealized alternative praxis for decolonial and ecological…writing center futures” (87). Ultimately,  as higher education continually shifts and the modalities of education expand, it is important to consider the varied and shifting spaces (and non-spaces) of writing center work and the way they function, support, and build opportunities for students and staff.

       This conference seeks to answer the questions of how writing center (non-)spaces can best adapt to our students, our contexts, our environments, our locations, and the many surprises that result. How can we employ our amorphous natures effectively? How can our physical space, online space, and non-space construct, critique, enhance, and adjust our practice? We seek proposals that scrutinize the (non-)spaces of writing center work to answer these questions.