Denny draws on his experiences at the writing center at St. John's University in New York City to explore the pedagogical dynamics and implications of identity politics in the college writing center. In discussion of issues of race and ethnicity, class, sex and gender, and nationality, the author encourages those working in writing centers to ask how they themselves, or the writing centers in which they work, might be perpetuating cultures and practice that undermine inclusive, progressive education. Discussion encompasses the ideas of thinkers including Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Peter Elbow, Paulo Freire, Jonathan Kozol, Victor Villanueva, and Carol Severino. Interchapters present the questions and comments of real writing center professionals, and responses by the author. The book grew out of a panel presentation at the 2007 Conference on College Composition and Communication in New York City. It can be used for high-level tutor education courses, and by classroom teachers. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
In the diversity of their clients as well as their professional and student staff, writing centers present a complicated set of relationships that inevitably affect the instruction they offer. In Facing the Center, Harry Denny unpacks the identity matrices that enrich teachable moments, and he explores the pedagogical dynamics and implications of identity within the writing center.
The face of the writing center, be it mainstream or marginal, majority or miority, orthodox or subversive, always has implications for teaching and learning. Facing the Center will extend current research in writing center theory to bring it in touch with theories now common in cultural studies curricula. Denny takes up issues of power, agency, language, and meaning, and pushes his readers to ask how they themselves, or the centers in which they work, might be perpetuating cultures that undermine inclusive, progressive education.
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