What exactly is the writing center? On these pages we present our mission, history and our team. We also give an insight into the view from outside by presenting the perspectives of students and the media.
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Contact
If you have any questions about our offering for students, please contact our office team:
Telephone: + 49 (0)69-798-32845
Office hours: Wednesday and Friday 9:30-14:30
Mail
Campus Westend
Norbert-Wollheim-Platz 1
IG-Farben-Gebäude, Raum 0.213
The Schreibzentrum Team
Get to know us! We are one of the largest Writing Centers in Germany. Here you can learn more about our areas of activity, research interests, publications and contact details.
Our Mission
Since our founding in 2009, our Writing Center has promoted the development of students' skills in academic and professional writing and reading. Through a diverse course offering and one-on-one instruction, we help students:
- navigate the writing process using effective methods;
- communicate according to the conventions and genres of academic writing;
- gain a critical understanding of discipline-specific knowledge by engaging with these ideas through writing..
We share these goals with the German Society for Writing Didactics and Writing Research (GEFSUS), as set out in the 2018 position paper “Schreibkompetenz im Studium" (Writing Competency in University Studies).
In more than 50 courses and workshops held in both English and German each year, as well as at events like The Long Night Against Procrastination, students of all subjects and experience levels can independently develop their writing skills. With our courses on the mechanics of academic English and German, we hope to promote academic success for students of all language backgrounds. Our Peer Tutors, students specially trained in Writing Center didactics, provide individual writing support to their peers. Each year, several hundred students from across the university visit the Writing Center to receive careful guidance in their writing process, and are given the space to develop their own questions, ideas, and arguments.
We believe that academic writing should also be taught in the disciplines themselves. To this end, we consult with faculty on how best to integrate Writing Center pedagogy and methods into their courses, and our Writing Fellow Program and Seminar-integrated Trainings bring our work directly to the disciplines.
In addition, as an academic institution we contribute to research on writing competency and writing didactics. Our courses and workshops are designed in accordance with the current state of research on writing didactics and are further developed through our own research. In this way we contribute to writing research and are networked nationally and internationally in the writing center and writing research community.
The Story of the Schreibzentrum
Although we are one of the first writing centers in Germany, we are relatively young in the context of the history of the university. Unlike the long-established Writing Centers of American universities, our Writing Center is an evolving, growing institution. The table below offers a brief look at the process of the creation and development of the Frankfurt Writing Center, which began almost 15 years ago.
| 01.12.2006 |
The German Studies' Writing Workshop (Schreibwerkstatt) is established at Goethe University with QSL funding Director: Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| June 2009 |
The Writing Center is established at Goethe University with QSL funding Director: Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| 02.11.2011 | The first Long Night Against Procrastination in Frankfurt (has taken place every year after on the first Thursday in March) |
| 01.01.2012 until 31.12.2019 |
Expansion of the writing center with the BMBF-funded project Starker Start ins Studium (Stronger Start to University Studies) Directors: Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst, Dr. Nadja Sennewald |
| 02.07.2012 | Kick-off of student writing consultations: 14 specially-trained students start working as Peer Writing Tutors |
| 01.11.2012 | Start of the first academic writing month at Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Winter Semester 2013/14 | Start of the Writing Fellow Programm at Goethe University Frankfurt |
| 2014 | Writing Fellow Programm is awarded a "Hochschulperle" (Pearl of Higher Education) |
| 26.-28.11.2014 | Organization of the Peer Tutor Conference of the German-speaking Writing Centers |
| 01.01.2018 | Director: Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| Since 01.11.2018 | Director: Dr. Nora Hoffmann |
| January 2019 | Training School from COST Action CA15221 We ReLaTe: Advancing effective institutional models towards cohesive teaching, learning, research and writing development |
| 01.01.2022 until 31.12.2025 | Expansion of the writing center with the HMWK-funded project Erfolgreich Lehren und Lernen - Vielfalt und Internationales im Studium (ELLVIS) |
| 25.-27.09.2024 | Organization of the Peer Tutor Conference of the German-speaking Writing Centers |
The Schreibzentrum in the Media
The Long Night Against Procrastination attracts attention every year, but also our innovative Writing Fellow Program and our interdisciplinary support of students has not gone unnoticed outside the university. Here you will find a collection of German news articles on the Writing Center, which offer an impression of our larger impact and public image.
The Schreibzentrum Team
Get to know us! We are one of the largest Writing Centers in Germany. Here you can learn more about our areas of activity, research interests, publications and contact details.
Our Mission
Since our founding in 2009, our Writing Center has promoted the development of students' skills in academic and professional writing and reading. Through a diverse course offering and one-on-one instruction, we help students:
- navigate the writing process using effective methods;
- communicate according to the conventions and genres of academic writing;
- gain a critical understanding of discipline-specific knowledge by engaging with these ideas through writing..
We share these goals with the German Society for Writing Didactics and Writing Research (GEFSUS), as set out in the 2018 position paper “Schreibkompetenz im Studium" (Writing Competency in University Studies).
In more than 50 courses and workshops held in both English and German each year, as well as at events like The Long Night Against Procrastination, students of all subjects and experience levels can independently develop their writing skills. With our courses on the mechanics of academic English and German, we hope to promote academic success for students of all language backgrounds. Our Peer Tutors, students specially trained in Writing Center didactics, provide individual writing support to their peers. Each year, several hundred students from across the university visit the Writing Center to receive careful guidance in their writing process, and are given the space to develop their own questions, ideas, and arguments.
We believe that academic writing should also be taught in the disciplines themselves. To this end, we consult with faculty on how best to integrate Writing Center pedagogy and methods into their courses, and our Writing Fellow Program and Seminar-integrated Trainings bring our work directly to the disciplines.
In addition, as an academic institution we contribute to research on writing competency and writing didactics. Our courses and workshops are designed in accordance with the current state of research on writing didactics and are further developed through our own research. In this way we contribute to writing research and are networked nationally and internationally in the writing center and writing research community.
The Story of the Schreibzentrum
Although we are one of the first writing centers in Germany, we are relatively young in the context of the history of the university. Unlike the long-established Writing Centers of American universities, our Writing Center is an evolving, growing institution. The table below offers a brief look at the process of the creation and development of the Frankfurt Writing Center, which began almost 15 years ago.
| 01.12.2006 |
The German Studies' Writing Workshop (Schreibwerkstatt) is established at Goethe University with QSL funding Director: Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| June 2009 |
The Writing Center is established at Goethe University with QSL funding Director: Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| 02.11.2011 | The first Long Night Against Procrastination in Frankfurt (has taken place every year after on the first Thursday in March) |
| 01.01.2012 until 31.12.2019 |
Expansion of the writing center with the BMBF-funded project Starker Start ins Studium (Stronger Start to University Studies) Directors: Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst, Dr. Nadja Sennewald |
| 02.07.2012 | Kick-off of student writing consultations: 14 specially-trained students start working as Peer Writing Tutors |
| 01.11.2012 | Start of the first academic writing month at Goethe University Frankfurt |
| Winter Semester 2013/14 | Start of the Writing Fellow Programm at Goethe University Frankfurt |
| 2014 | Writing Fellow Programm is awarded a "Hochschulperle" (Pearl of Higher Education) |
| 26.-28.11.2014 | Organization of the Peer Tutor Conference of the German-speaking Writing Centers |
| 01.01.2018 | Director: Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst |
| Since 01.11.2018 | Director: Dr. Nora Hoffmann |
| January 2019 | Training School from COST Action CA15221 We ReLaTe: Advancing effective institutional models towards cohesive teaching, learning, research and writing development |
| 01.01.2022 until 31.12.2025 | Expansion of the writing center with the HMWK-funded project Erfolgreich Lehren und Lernen - Vielfalt und Internationales im Studium (ELLVIS) |
| 25.-27.09.2024 | Organization of the Peer Tutor Conference of the German-speaking Writing Centers |
The Schreibzentrum in the Media
The Long Night Against Procrastination attracts attention every year, but also our innovative Writing Fellow Program and our interdisciplinary support of students has not gone unnoticed outside the university. Here you will find a collection of German news articles on the Writing Center, which offer an impression of our larger impact and public image.
