The Writing Center at MSU

By: Casey Miles

In the transition to our new website we’ve also been harvesting content from the old website, which means we’ve found some awesome Writing Center gems. Like an assortment of informative podcasts! Rather than let these podcasts vanish into the ether, we’ve decided to archive them on our new site. You can find the entire collection in our Podcast Archive. But first let me tell you a bit about what we have to offer.

The archive is broken down into three collections: Writing Center produced podcasts, Writing Center workshops and presentations, and guest lectures and workshops.

The Writing Center produced podcasts include topics like citations, primary sources, resumes, and thesis statements, as well as a three-part series on writing with poetry. Each of these podcasts is about 5 minutes long, and is scripted to cover the basics of each topic. For example, the Citations podcast explains why giving credit with citations is important, introduces MLA, APA, and Chicago styles, and discusses the use of in-text citations and works cited pages. These quickly delivered podcasts would be great support material for writing instructors.

The Podcast Archive also features a robust collection of Writing Center workshops and presentations given by Writing Center staff and faculty. This includes workshops on personal statements, Comic Life, and poster displays using CRAP principles (contrast, repetition, arrangement, and proximity), as well as presentations on the use of podcasts in writing centers, grammar as a higher order concern, professional development, and a presentation given by our very own associate director, Dianna Baldwin, on the use of Second Life, an online virtual world, in writing centers. Dianna speaks a bit about the history of SL and argues that SL brings personal connection back to online consulting through the use of the voice feature, as well as gestures controlled by the user. *

And finally, our last collection of podcasts in the archive is guest lectures and workshops featuring three scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition: Dr. Paul Matsuda, Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University; Dr. Tony Silva, Director of ESL Graduate and Writing Programs at Purdue University; and Dr. Kirk St. Amant, Associate Professor of Technical and Professional Communication at East Carolina University specializing in global education in online environments. Each of these scholars were guests at Michigan State, and we are fortunate to have podcasts of these events for folks to listen to and learn from.

We hope this rich and varied collection of knowledge and expertise available in our Podcast Archive will make it to your playlists, and perhaps even your writing courses.

*The Writing Center at MSU has a satellite location in Second Life, with appointments from 9am – 10pm Monday – Thursday, and 9am – 2pm Friday. Schedule a Second Life consultation! 

By: Chelsea DeSantis

Want your 15 minutes of MSU fame? How about your tweets on our TV? If you include @WCMSU or #WCMSU in any tweet it will appear on the new plasma TV in 300 Bessey Hall.  We keep the TV on all day and it cycles through recent tweets. It’s a quick way to share your experiences with everyone in the Writing Center. We suggest you stop by and see just how awesome it really is.

The Writing Center would like to welcome you to our new website! We’ve been working hard to design a new site as well as move information and make it easier for you to find.

Though the look of the new site is much different, there are some changes to the navigation that you should know about.

• Home: If you click this, it will lead you to our main page which includes our blog. This is where you can find news pertaining to events in the Writing Center, conferences that our consultants attend, as well as other content relating to writing and writing centers.
• About: Go here to learn about our Center’s mission as well as our directors.
• Services: Here, you can find general information about the services that we offer the MSU community, our Workshop catalog and request form, and our Writing Group catalog and request form.
• Resources: Believe it or not, there are some things that we can’t do at the Writing Center, so we’re curating a list of resources available at MSU and beyond to help you with your writing.
• Locations: We’re here to serve you in seven locations on MSU’s main campus! Get an inside look at all of our satellite locations as well as details on hours and addresses here.
• Events: Find out what’s going on at the Writing Center by scoping out our Google Calendar. Under this menu item, you’ll also find information about special events the Center is hosting, such as the 20/20 Celebration.

As we test our site and create new content over the next few weeks, please be patient with us and feel free to contact us regarding any question or comments you have at writing@msu.edu.

A group of four writing center consultants got together over the summer to plan a lipdub video featuring the entire writing center staff with a special guest appearance by Sparty. The video took four months to plan and choreograph, including a full staff rehearsal two weeks before the live shoot.

Check it out, then make an appointment! Our staff is ready, willing, and able to assist with all of your multimedia projects.