Call for Papers:

Special Section on The Future of Writing Centres in Canada in The Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie

In the past three years, writing centres at Canadian universities have been established, re-visioned, and shut down. At some universities, services traditionally housed in writing centres have been relocated; at others, writing specialists have lost their jobs. Change seems to be in the air.
In response to these extraordinary circumstances, a group of people who work in the teaching of
writing in all its aspects gathered at Inkshed 31 in Ottawa last year to contribute to a document called “Statement on Writing Centres and Staffing,” which proposes the following:

1. Students who work with writing specialists at writing centres should improve their writing and
   critical thinking.
2. Writing centres are fundamentally teaching units.
3. Peer tutors need to be educated and mentored.
4. Writing support is best attended to in disciplinary contexts.
5. Writing competency is a degree outcome for all university students.
6. Writing professionals use and apply research from writing studies.

Over 25 people contributed to the document, which can be viewed here. On May 30, 2016, the
Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing endorsed the document at its annual
general meeting. The Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie invites discussion of this document and or other perspectives on the current state and future of writing centres in Canadian postsecondary institutions. We invite perspectives from a variety of institutions and settings. We are also open to publishing both shorter perspectives and reflections (1000-1500 words) and longer arguments about writing centres in Canada (4000-6000 words).
For more information about this special section of the journal, or to submit an inquiry or an article for the special section, please email one of us at an address below. The deadline is August 31.

Roger Graves (roger.graves@ualberta.ca)
Guest Editor, Special section on the Future Writing Centres in Canada

Joel Heng Hartse (joel_henghartse@sfu.ca) or Sibo Chen (siboc@sfu.ca)
Co-Editors, Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie

The Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie (CJSDW/R) is devoted to publishing theoretically grounded research reports and discussions in the fields of discourse and writing studies. Formerly known as Technostyle, the journal began to publish articles of interest to teachers of technical, professional, scientific, and academic writing in 1982. As an interdisciplinary
journal, it features the work of scholars from a variety of traditions in writing studies, rhetorical theory, discourse analysis, and related fields. The journal welcomes submissions in both English and French.