Going Forward by Looking Back: One Tutor’s Adventure in Archival Research

Through archival research, students learn many skills including critical thinking, observation, textual analysis, and work with primary sources. These skills can help tutors examine the history of writing centers from different perspectives, bring voices to those marginalized, or rewrite accounts of the past that are incomplete. Students also contend with "so what?" questions, which move them beyond the perspective that their research is only meant for a teacher's eyes or for passing a class.