The Centre for Academic Writing (CAW) at Coventry University, England re-opened on campus in August 2021 after operating as a fully-online writing centre between March 2020-July 2021 during the COVID pandemic. Although CAW has offered students synchronous and asynchronous writing tutorials via the Coventry Online Writing Lab (COWL) since 2010, the pandemic pushed staff to come up with new online booking processes and delivery methods in order to offer writing tutorials, a drop-in writing café, writing development workshops, undergraduate and postgraduate writing development modules, and staff consultations online. Two years on from the start of the UK’s first national ‘lockdown’, students and staff are back in CAW, tutorials are taking place either side of clear plastic screens as well as online, CAW’s Single Question Drop-ins are happening at a table in the University Library, and writing development workshops and modules are being delivered online. It’s great to be ‘back in the centre’ as well as retaining our online presence!
On behalf of the members of the European Writing Center Association (EWCA) community,
The board of the EWCA joins with its members and our colleagues in EATAW in standing in solidarity with all Ukranians, colleagues or otherwise, at this harrowing time. We join EATAW, and many other academic and state bodies throughout Europe, in wholeheartedly condemning the Russian government’s denial of Ukraine’s right to exist, the subsequent unprovoked invasion and what can only be construed as an attempt to mercilessly eradicate those who dared to call themselves Ukranians, the free, peaceful, hopeful people of a promising, forward-looking nation.
Many EU institutions, political, civil and academic, are offering some form of refuge for the people fleeing the barbarous, inhumane and illegal Russian violation of their sovereign homeland. Some of these opportunities, relevant to EWCA members, and to academics in Ukrainian educational institutions in general, are listed below.
It is our hope that everyone remembers that to be Russian is not to be Putin or his cronies, and that many Russians throughout the world are sympathetic and grieving with Ukraine; many courageously take a high risk by resisting and speaking up against the war. If our colleagues in Ukraine have questions about how to avail of any of these opportunities or have questions about how to take refuge in any of our member countries, please contact us, and we will do our best to get you the information that you need.
We encourage EWCA members to add to this list below by adding and reposting this message.
