The Writing Center as Cultural and Interdisciplinary Contact Zone

158 Pages·2016·2.02 MB·English

by  Randall W. Monty (auth.)

THE WRITING CENTER
AS CULTURAL AND
INTERDISCIPLINARY
CONTACT ZONE
Randall W. Monty
The Writing Center as Cultural and
Interdisciplinary Contact Zone

Randall   W .   Monty
The Writing Center as
Cultural and
Interdisciplinary
Contact Zone
Randall   W.   Monty
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, Texas, USA
ISBN 978-1-137-54093-5 ISBN 978-1-137-54094-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-54094-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016939274
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For Victoria and Eva Grace.

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I was an undergraduate writing tutor, I once gave up tickets to a
Sonic Youth/Yo La Tengo concert so that I could stay home and fi nish
my research project on regional writing centers. That sentence probably
tells you most of what you need to know about me, but I mention it here
to illustrate how long I have been working on the ideas for this book. As a
result, the number of people I want to thank for helping me along the way
is considerable. Let me start by thanking all the students and tutors that
I had the privilege of working with and learning from.
A great many colleagues were willing to use their own valuable time in
order to provide feedback and advice throughout my writing and research
processes, and you all deserve gracious praise: Esther Al-Tabaa, Alice Batt,
Olivia Briggs, Kathleen Shine Cain, Jonikka Charlton, Colin Charlton,
Melinda DeNero, Michele Eodice, Benjamin Erwin, Jeanette Jeneault,
Rebecca Hallman, Lou Herman, Dawnelle Jager, Kerri Jordan, Shannon
McCrocklin, Megan McIntyre, Michelle Miley, Magdalena Nowak,
Steve Price, Martha Smith, Kyle Stedman, Hill Taylor, Ellen Walker,
Stacia Watkins, Nancy Wilson, Scott Whiddon, Rebekah Hamilton and
Craig Wynne. And special thanks to Chloe Fitzsimmons and everyone at
Palgrave Macmillan for fi nding value in my work and helping me see it
through from proposal to publication.
I have been fortunate to know teachers and mentors whose generosity
with time and support was probably more than I deserved. So thank you,
Roberto Avant-Mier, Beth Brunk-Chavez, Kate Mangelsdorf, and Bruce
Pegg.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Most folks who get the opportunity to write an acknowledgements sec-
tion thank their partner, but it’s really something I should do more often,
and in person. For now though, thank you Annette Zapata Monty, for
keeping me grounded and motivated.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction: Little Rooms 1
Situatedness 1
Small Rooms 3
What You’ll Find Inside 8
Final Preparatory Thoughts: “We” Are Writing
Center Studies 1 1
References 13
2 Discourse as Framework 1 7
Situatedness 17
Locations 18
Theoretical Framework 20
Critical Discourse Analysis 21
Contact Zone 25
Mixed Methodology 30
Defi nitions 31
Rhetoric and Discourse 3 1
References 33
3 Discursively Constructing the Session 3 9
Situatedness 39
Artifact 42
Methodology 42
ix