Humanities Summer Program Spotlight:

Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing Hosts Writing Camp for High School Students

Teaming with the WOSU Stations, The Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing (CSTW) hosted an "OSU Summer Writing Camp for High School Students: A Multimedia Literacy Experience" from June 26 to July 1, introducing 18 students from six Columbus Public Schools, two home schools, Bishop Hartley, two Christian school academies, and Thomas-Worthington and Reynoldsburg High Schools to critical thinking and writing using various media and technologies. Students created mini-documentaries on topics such as urban community, schools, poverty, or social justice. CSTW camp coordinator Nancy Hill McClary and staffer Doug Dangler secured funding for the writing camp from OSU's Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Ingram-White Castle Foundation.

During the one-week writing camp, students studied analytical research, the writing process, and multimedia software. The curriculum required students to write and edit texts; create audio recordings; and download music, still images, voice-overs, and other original material to produce one- to three-minute multimedia documentaries. WOSU Stations provided a tour of its broadcast facilities and hands-on instruction in sound editing, and WOSU staffers helped students create audio/web broadcasts following interactive presentations. Rebecca Bias (Foreign Language Center) and staff from the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences provided technical support for the classroom facilities in Hagerty Hall, and Anne-Marie Schuler (graduate student, English) taught classroom sessions on writing, assisted by three graduate teaching assistants.

Working individually and in groups, the students completed ten multimedia projects covering topics such as "Classification By Race," "The Importance of Black Americans: A Year-Round Celebration," and "Social Injustice in Hiring Black Head Coaches." The projects were presented at a closing ceremony at the Blackwell Inn attended by students, parents, family members, and Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Gene Harris, among others, and are available online.

The students' assessment of the Writing Camp suggests that the combination of writing instruction and media production infused traditional challenges with new and interesting dimensions. One student's assessment of the most challenging aspect of the camp is familiar—and gratifying: "The most challenging thing was taking research and codifying it into a coherent paper. That process is easier now." And another student's assessment of the most enjoyable aspect of the camp suggests how the camp expanded the scope of traditional writing instruction: "Learning how to write for the ear."

More information is available on The Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing Web site.