Writing Center Successes 

As of February 3, 2009, the Writing Center has relocated to its new house at 141 E. 12th Street

(Blue-gray house across from the old CGU dorms parking lot)

To view photos of the new Writing Center, click here.

Evren Eryilmaz

Evren Eryilmaz, a Ph.D. student in Information Systems and Technology, will be presenting a paper at the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS), January 5-8.

Evren’s paper, “Establishing Trust Management in Collaborative Information Repository: An Emergency Response System Case Study,” examines the use of wikis for responses to emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks.

The paper began as an assignment for a course and Evren used the Writing Center to help polish it for conference consideration. He made appointments with the Writing Center to incorporate feedback from his dean and prepare final changes.

"After I received the conditional acceptance, I only had four days to make the changes," said Evren. "The Writing Center helped me to prepare quickly. It was a great help."

Originally from Turkey, Evren is looking forward to his first visit to Hawaii to present at the conference (and to check out the local surfing!).

We wish Evren the best of luck with his presentation.

Dr. Ambereen Dadabhoy

The CGU Writing Center is happy to congratulate former Writing Center consultant and 2008 CGU grad Ambereen Dadabhoy on her new teaching position in Turkey. Ambereen has begun a year-long position as Humanities Instructor at Bogazici University, a prestigious public university in Istanbul. She is teaching a course called “Cultural Encounters” which introduces students to the seminal artistic, literary, and philosophical texts of western culture and exploring their connections to the near east. 

Ambereen has a unique perspective of the Writing Center, having both worked in the center and used its services:

 
“Working at the Writing Center has helped me become a better reader of not just other people’s work, but also my own. Helping other students with their writing has made me think about the process involved not just when I write, but the way I teach others to approach writing. I have also used the Writing Center during the course of writing my dissertation, and I found that working with someone, even if they're not in your field, helps you to think through your ideas and articulate them in a clearer, more coherent way. I would definitely recommend the Writing Center to all students writing their dissertations."


The Writing Center congratulates Ambereen on her new job and wishes her many new adventures in Turkey!

The Writing Center Welcomes President Klitgaard!

CGU President Robert Klitgaard recently visited the Writing Center to experience a typical session and learn more about the tutors and the tutoring process.

In preparation for his appointment, President Klitgaard brought a copy of a recent commencement address that he wrote and is adapting for a new audience: a college youth group. President Klitgaard met with Writing Consultant Katie to discuss ways to modify his text.

During the session, they discussed strategies for incorporating quotes into a piece of writing that will be delivered orally, ways to emphasize key points, and how to target a specific academic audience. Because President Klitgaard's speech incorporated personal experience stories from his life as well as passages from Nietzsche, they also discussed ways to strike a balance using different types of sources.

The session was a great success! Afterwards, President Klitgaard met with several Writing Center students to share feedback about his session and suggest ways to make the Writing Center even more helpful, to increase the Writing Center's presence in the overall community, and to help spread the word of the amazing resources that the Writing Center offers. He also recommended several texts that he uses in his own writing process, including William K. Zinsser's On Writing Well.

The Writing Center looks forward to working with President Klitgaard again in the future.

Isamu Horiuchi, a Ph.D. student in Cultural Studies, recently passed his Qualifying Examinations with support from the Writing Center and is a member of the Writing Center’s popular Dissertation Workshop.

Isamu used both the Writing Center’s online consulting and in-person appointments to prepare for the three areas of his exams: Realism and Reality, Sports and Modernity, and Postmodernity, all geared towards his dissertation on Alternative Fighting Sports.

Here is Isamu’s description of his experience in his own words:

“Ambereen really helped me polish my work. She helped tremendously. Being a non-native speaker of English, I had a lot of anxiety about writing more than 5 pages in 3 hours. She’d been through her qualifying exams and shared her experience with me. She gave me a lot of encouragement!”

The Writing Center congratulates Isamu on becoming ABD!

Dr. Devin Kuhn

 A Writing Center consultant herself, Devin Kuhn (PhD, Religion) used the Center’s services during her academic job search, which resulted in her appointment as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s Studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

At the Writing Center, Jenny worked with Devin on her job talk, and Ambereen helped her with her dissertation, which develops a feminist ethic for peace activism.

“Preparing job talks and writing my dissertation presented new kinds of writing challenges I hadn't encountered in the rest of my graduate studies.  The guidance and support from the rest of the Writing Center staff helped me reconceptualize these projects and work past writing blocks.  There's no way I could have finished my dissertation in six months without the help of the Writing Center!”

This fall, Devin is teaching two courses on gender and religion at Cal Poly, and she is presenting a paper entitled “Making Peace Trendy: Fashion and Material Culture as Modes of Resistance” at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Diego.

The Writing Center congratulates Devin on the start of a great career!

                                                                     Dr. Gary Gramenz

Please join the CGU Writing Center in congratulating Gary Gramenz, a Ph.D. student in Education who just defended his dissertation, “For the Joy Set Before Them: Compassion, Altruism, and Satisfaction in L’Arche Community Homes.”

Gary submitted chapters of his dissertation using the Writing Center’s online service, which allows students to conveniently submit work and receive feedback via e-mail. Here is Gary’s reflection on his experience:

 “Dr. Poplin, the chair of my committee and my advisor, recommended that I take the dissertation to the Writing Center. It was fun, much more than just an editing process. We interacted on the material and Will engaged with me on the arguments as well. We did it pretty quickly. The whole process [of polishing the dissertation] took about three months. On all levels, it worked."

    Dr. Hal Nelson   

 The CGU Writing Center is pleased to support Dr. Hal Nelson, a Visiting Professor in Politics and Policy at CGU, in working on his upcoming book addressing the pervasiveness of energy use in industrial societies and how it impacts our dependence on imported oil.

Dr. Nelson holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Idaho and an M.A. in Political Science and Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Portland State University.

His current project, The Tangled Grid of Energy Interdependence: The Political Economy of Energy, focuses on American energy use and the relationships between the power sector, transportation, and the industrial sector. To address America’s oil addiction, Dr. Nelson takes a systemic look at the nation’s energy use.

Dr. Nelson brought portions of his book to the Writing Center for feedback. Here is his description of his experience in his own words:

“I’m always looking to improve my writing. I am concerned about the readability of my book and how to make it more accessible to the general public. That is how [Writing Center Consultant] Katie was really helpful. I wanted ideas to make it engaging, yet also convey technical information.”

Ayako Nakamura

The CGU Writing Center is pleased to announce the success of Ayako Nakamura, a student in the Drucker – Ito School of Management.  Ayako is an international student from Japan who was in the Global Communications Course and also worked closely with the Writing Center in preparation for job interviews with KPMG, first in Boston and then in LA, where she was 1 out of 1,000 applicants to receive an internship.   Her internship begins June 13 at the LA office.

Ayako had 2 separate interviews in English in each location, and she says:

  Jae Hyung Cho

Jae Hyung Cho, a Ph.D. student in Religion from Korea, was recently awarded a GSC Travel Award for Professional Development to attend the American Academy of Religion (AAR) conference in Washington, D.C.

In preparation for applying for the Travel Award, Jae Hyung worked on his application with a Writing Center consultant.

In 2007, Jae Hyung will return to the AAR again, this time as a presenter.  He will also present in Vienna, Austria for the International Society of Biblical Literature Conference this spring.

In addition to his academic and scholarly work, Jae Hyung is a pastor for his church. When preparing sermons for his youth group, Jae Hyung often comes to the Writing Center to hone the emphasis, pronunciation, and delivery of his sermons.

Aya Nakagoshi

Aya Nakagoshi, a Japanese student in Cultural Studies and currently the Japanese Language Resident at Pomona College, recently received a summer internship with Amnesty International.  Aya worked closely with Writing Center consultants on her application and was successful.  In her own words, Aya describes her experience with the Writing Center:

"The Writing Center helped me go through my cover letter for a summer internship at Amnesty International USA. The job description was quite complicated and I don't think I could have gotten [the internship] without the Writing Center's help.  I personally got a reply from my interviewer saying that he enjoyed reading my cover letter.  It was shockingly amazing, and I am thankful for all the help I got!"

Naomi Kubo

The CGU Writing Center is pleased to announce the success of Naomi Kubo, a student in English.  Naomi is an international student from Japan who has worked closely with the Writing Center this semester in preparation for her first American conference presentation.  Naomi recently delivered a very successful paper on the Victorian novel, The Woman in White, at the Pacific Coast Conference for British Studies.

 Here is Naomi's description of her experience at the Writing Center in her own words:

"Before I did my presentation, I had revised my paper and practiced the oral presentation with tutors of the Writing Center.  The suggestions from the tutors helped in making my presentation clear and articulate in many ways.  I appreciate your support so much."