Abstract:
The Oregon State University (OSU) Writing Center: History and Context provides a detailed and
multi-faceted view of the Writing Center from its start in 1976 through the present.
The information was gathered from interviews, annual reports, archival sources, and
scholarly research. Chapter One examines the scholarly conversation about writing
centers, drawing on several major contributors to identify a number of themes that
recur in research on writing centers and their history Chapter One also describes the
cultural historiographic approach employed in this thesis. Chapter Two offers an
overview of writing center theory and practice, in order to provide a helpful context
for Chapters Three and Four. Chapter Three explores the early history and pre-history
of the OSU Writing Center and examines it in the context of the Center for Writing
and Learning and of OSU. Chapter Four looks at the Writing Center itself, discussing
the coordinators who have worked there and their contributions, the writing assistants
and their training, the students, and the director's role in the Center. Chapter Five
concludes this thesis by reexamining the writing center themes identified in Chapter
One in light of what has been learned about the OSU Writing Center. Various
appendices provide supplemental data.
