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CSTW Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing

College of Humanities

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About CSTW

The Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing (CSTW) is an interdisciplinary support and research unit in The Ohio State University's College of Humanities. CSTW is committed to fostering excellence among writers and teachers of writing at The Ohio State University and in the State of Ohio.

Program Areas

Outreach works cooperatively with schools, community groups, and others to enhance writing instruction and develop literacy programs.

Writing Across the Curriculum assists instructors with integrating writing into any Ohio State course.

The Writing Center works one-on-one with undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff at Ohio State on writing projects.

The Minor in Professional Writing helps prepare students to write in their prospective career areas.

Research, conducted by affiliated faculty and staff, contributes to a national conversation on literacy and writing instruction.

Mission

All of our work at CSTW is guided by the following five principles:

  • We view writing as a complex intellectual activity crucial for participation in academic, professional, and public life.
  • We help students and other writers negotiate the complex rhetorical demands of writing in a variety of settings.
  • We promote an understanding of multiple literacies in a global society.
  • We gather and share knowledge about writing and the teaching of writing.
  • We work in partnership with teachers and researchers to create opportunities for networking, collaboration, and scholarship.

History

Established in 1999, the Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing is an interdisciplinary support and research unit in the College of Humanities. CSTW draws upon The Ohio State University's tradition of leadership in the fields of rhetoric, composition, and literacy.

Timeline
1995 -- University Writing Board convened by the Provost.
1997 -- Proposal to establish the Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing approved by the College of Humanities.
1999 -- Ohio State Board of Trustees approved creation of CSTW.
2002 -- Minor in Professional Writing approved.

Directors
Richard (Dickie) Selfe, 2007-present
Beverly J. Moss, 2001-2007
H. Lewis Ulman, 2000-2001
Frank O'Hare, 2000
Andrea Lunsford, 1997-2000