Webinars provide a space to share experiences, ideas, strategies, and questions about online writing centers (OWCs).

In today’s polarized socio-political climate, writing centers continue to serve as vital spaces for dialogue, learning, and student support. At the same time, writing center professionals face growing challenges as they respond to shifting institutional landscapes and external pressures while remaining committed to their core values.

The Online Writing Centers Association (OWCA) is excited to bring together a panel of four distinguished scholars, whose critical and courageous voices have shaped the field. Their research highlights how writing centers can serve as brave spaces and contact zones, fostering authentic conversations about language and the evolving role of writing centers in higher education.

The panel conversation will be guided by moderators whose expertise in writing center scholarship and leadership will provide a strong foundation for drawing out the panelists’ insights.

Event Details

Panelists: Drs. Eric Camarillo, Frankie Condon, Jasmine Tang & Talisha Morrison

Moderators: Drs. Ashley Newby & Nicole Caswell

When:   Friday, November 7th at  3 p.m. EST / 2 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. MST / 12 p.m. PST

This is a live event and will not be recorded.

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Panelist Bios:

Dr. Eric Camarillo

Dr. Eric Camarillo is a higher education professional with over a decade of experience that spans teaching, writing center management, and administrative leadership. He has worked at institutions in multiple states, successfully navigating and adapting to different legislative policies. He has published work in Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, WLN: A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, and the Journal of Academic Support Programs. He has also presented at numerous writing center or writing-related conferences, including the International Writing Centers Association, the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and the Online Writing Centers Association. He was the keynote speaker for the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association 2024 conference, NCPTW President from 2021-2022, and the book review editor for the Writing Center Journal from 2021 to 2025. He currently serves as the reviews editor for the Online Literacies Open Resource publication through GSOLE and as the Vice President for the South Central Writing Centers Association.

Dr. Frances Condon

Frankie Condon is a Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo and Past Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC). Frankie’s recent co-edited collection, CounterStories from the Writing Center(with Wonderful Faison) is the winner of the International Writing Center Association’s 2023 Outstanding Book Award. Among her other books are her monograph, I Hope I Join the Band: Narrative, Affiliation, and Antiracist Rhetoric (2013 Top Five “Must Reads”, Educators Award Committee of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International); Performing Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Rhetoric, Writing and Communication, co-edited with Vershawn Ashanti Young; and The Everyday Writing Center: A Community of Practice (co-authored with Geller et al). Her current projects include new monographs: The Road to Hell: A History of Colour-Blind Rhetoric and Working-Class Consciousness, under contract with Pennsylvania State University Press, and Encounters with Bean: Contending with White Supremacy in the Antiracist Classroom, under contract with Utah State University Press. 

Dr. Talisha Morrison

Dr. Talisha Haltiwanger Morrison (she/her) serves as Director of the OU Writing Center, Associate Professor of Writing, and affiliate faculty in the OU English Department at the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Morrison’s research and administration interests span writing center theory,  mentorship, community-based writing, and Black feminist studies. In particular, her research focuses on intersectional approaches mentoring and administration.

As an administrator, Dr. Morrison centers the mentoring, support, and professional development of student consultants and the value of cross-campus partnerships. As Director of the OU Writing Center, she has fostered relationships with units such as OU Libraries, the OU Graduate College, OU Admissions, the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity office (UReCA), and Cosmic Shakti, a local community wellness space.

Dr. Morrison regularly presents at national and international conferences including the Conference on College Composition and Communication, the Conference on Community Writing, and the International Writing Centers Association Conference. She is co-editor of Writing Centers and Racial Justice: A Guidebook for Critical Praxis (2023), and more of her work can be found in publications such as the Writing Center Journal, the Journal of Multimodal Rhetoric, and the award-winning collection, Out in the Center. Her current projects include Making a Way: Black Women Navigating Graduate School and Early Careers in Rhetoric and Writing Studies and Social Justice in the Center: A Guide for Writing Tutors. 

Dr. Jasmine K. Tang

Jasmine Kar Tang (she/her/hers) is interested in how Asian American and Women of Color feminisms meet writing center theory and practice. A recipient of an IWCA Outstanding Article Award (2023), Jasmine is currently researching the experiences of Asian and Asian American writing tutors at U.S. universities. She is also co-editor of The Reluctant Supervisor: Recognizing and Rethinking Power in Writing Center Supervisory Practices (forthcoming, Utah State University Press). Jasmine works at the Student Writing Support program at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities.

Moderator Bios:

Dr. Nicole Caswell

Nikki Caswell (she/her) is the Director of the University Writing Center and Professor of English at East Carolina University. She researches socially-just approaches to writing assessment, emotion, and writing centers, and is co-author of two award winnings books The Working Lives of New Writing Center Directors and Failing Sideways: Queer Possibilities for Writing Assessment. She currently serves at the Vice President of the OWCA. 

Dr. Ashley Newby

Dr. Ashley Newby currently serves as a senior lecturer and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the African American Studies Department at the University of Maryland, College Park; and writing coach for the Academic Success Center at National University. She has previously served as a lecturer in writing and rhetoric at both the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University. She completed her doctoral degree in African American and African Studies at Michigan State University. She earned her M.A. in Sociology of Education at New York University and B.A.s in International Relations and Social Relations and Policy from Michigan State University. Her research interests lie at the intersections of Black Language, Hip-Hop culture and educational spaces, with a particular focus on culturally sustaining pedagogies.