CFP: Writing Centers and AI: Generating Early Conversations
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Writing Centers and AI: Generating Early Conversations
An Edited Collection
Call-for-Papers
Daniel Reimer, in the September 1984 issue of Writing Lab Newsletter, shares his thoughts about his writing center’s new computer. Reimer writes, “When we first brought a microcomputer into the Writing Lab, it was kind of like putting a lion in the front seat of a Mercedes: it looked impressive, but who wants to get close enough to take it for a test drive? It seems that, immediately after creating the computer, humanity raised it to a super-human level…We are still exploring possibilities and, like many, we have a long way to go” (1-2). Reimer’s piece turns forty years old this year, but the field of writing center studies might see some prescient echoes vis-à-vis his fears about computers in our current discourse about a new technology: Artificial Intelligence.
The landscape of higher education has once again been forever changed by the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence and language learning models. Machine-generated text has provided new opportunities for academic integrity violations, the death of critical thought, and the end to the Humanities at large–or at least, that’s what we’re being told.
We believe that writing centers are in a critical place to help assess and understand what is sure to be a remarkable shift in the ways that students learn and write. Rather than taking a wholly negative approach about AI– reinforcing claims that AI is inherently bad– we hope that this edited collection can explore a more nuanced perspective about the relationship(s) between writing, AI, and writing centers. In this early moment, we can see how writing center practitioners understand the critical role that writing centers can and should play in helping students, faculty, and institutions navigate this potentially pivotal transition.
We hope that contributions to this edited collection will take the form of research-informed reflective pieces, data-driven studies, and/or other approaches we might not have considered. We invite 250 word proposals engaging with one or more of the following questions:
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How can writing centers serve as intermediaries between instructors’ and students’ perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of AI?
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To what extent are writing center practitioners taking on leadership roles in campus conversations about AI?
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What are best practices for navigating conversations about AI in the writing center, including in tutor/consultant training?
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How can writing centers serve as advocates for students who have been falsely accused of incorporating AI In their writing practices?
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In what ways might AI be used to enhance services offered by writing centers?
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To what extent does a tool like ChatGPT stand as similar to or different from other AI-driven software (e.g., Grammarly) that have also impacted writing center work?
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How can writing centers best respond to AI “prevention” tools (e.g., GPTZero)?
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What have been your own experiences with utilizing AI software as a writing center practitioner?
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What do you see as potential future directions for the relationship between AI and writing center labor?
We welcome contributions from new voices in writing center research, particularly chapters composed by undergraduate and graduate writing center scholars.
We anticipate that final chapters, depending on focus and research method, will range from 2,000-4,000 words.
Timeline
We recognize the timeliness of this conversation and so we are asking accepted authors to commit to an expeditious publication process. We anticipate adhering to the following deadlines:
April 1st, 2024: Proposals due
May 1st, 2024: Authors notified of acceptance
August 1st, 2024: Initial chapter drafts due
September 1st, 2024: Editors’ feedback on first drafts
November 1st, 2024: Revised drafts due
December 1st, 2024: Full manuscript submitted to publisher
Questions and Submission
Please submit all questions and proposals to Dr. Elisabeth Buck (eb...@umassd.edu) and Josh Botvin (jbo...@umassd.edu).
We look forward to receiving your proposals!
About the Editors
Dr. Elisabeth Buck is an Associate Professor of English and Communication and the author of Open-Access, Multimodality, and Writing Center Studies, a work invested, in part, in tracing how writing center scholars discuss and engage with new technologies in writing center publications. Open-Access was nominated for the 2018 International Writing Centers Association Outstanding Book Award. Dr. Buck’s work has also appeared in WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, and Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy. She currently serves as Director of the Writing and Multiliteracy Center at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Joshua Botvin is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the First Year English Program and the Assistant Director of the Writing & Multiliteracy Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He is currently a PhD student in Texas Tech University’s Technical Communication and Rhetoric Program. He instructs first year English courses in Critical Writing & Reading as well as Technical and Business Communication. His research focuses on the studies of rhetoric, writing center administration, labor equity, and classroom accessibility.
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