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About

Students working on laptops in a library.

About the OU Writing Center

The OU Writing Center provides broad writing support for OU graduate and undergraduate students through a range of services including one-on-one and small-group appointments, workshops, camps and retreats, writing groups, and other programs. The goal of the OU Writing Center is to foster student writing success by offering a variety of ways for students to grow and develop as writers.


Our Mission

Our goal is to provide support for all writers in the University of Oklahoma community. The Writing Center Staff is committed to:

  • Offering feedback in writing consultations in the form of thoughtful suggestions, asking clarifying questions, as well as providing print and online resources
  • Modeling approaches for editing and addressing the writer's writing concerns
  • Consulting with writers through their writing process from pre-writing to final drafting 
  • Respecting an individual's agency as a writer by providing feedback as active listeners and readers who work generously to understand your aims and goals as a writer
  • Offering multiple and accessible ways for all writers to learn collaboratively with us

Please note that we work diligently to support your development as a writer, and therefore, we are neither a proofreading nor grading service.

The OU Writing Center welcomes all writers and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability. We consider difference to be a seed for learning, writing, and a just society.


OU Writing Center History

In 1987, a Ford Foundation grant entitled “The Empowerments of Literacy” brought together 30 University of Oklahoma faculty members from approximately 16 disciplines. The purpose of the project was to increase awareness of the central assumption that students gain intellectual power from writing.

The writing center at the University of Oklahoma opened in January 1989 as a direct result of the University’s commitment to empower students. The University of Oklahoma’s continuing commitment to improving student writing was reflected by the expansion of the writing center to Bizzell Library in the spring of 2004. In 2008, the writing center moved to the new Lissa and Cy Wagner Student Learning Center.

The writing center partners with several departments, colleges, programs, and individuals to develop and support a deliberate campus-wide writing initiative. This “writing across the curriculum” approach is supported by the Office of the Provost.


Land Acknowledgement

Long before the University of Oklahoma was established, the land on which the University now resides was the traditional home of the “Hasinais” Caddo Nation and “Kirikirʔi:s” Wichita & Affiliated Tribes.

We acknowledge this territory once also served as a hunting ground, trade exchange point, and migration route for the Apache, Comanche, Kiowa and Osage nations. 

Today, 39 tribal nations dwell in the state of Oklahoma as a result of settler and colonial policies that were designed to assimilate Native people.

The University of Oklahoma recognizes the historical connection our university has with its indigenous community. We acknowledge, honor and respect the diverse Indigenous peoples connected to this land. We fully recognize, support and advocate for the sovereign rights of all of Oklahoma’s 39 tribal nations. This acknowledgement is aligned with our university’s core value of creating a diverse and inclusive community. It is an institutional responsibility to recognize and acknowledge the people, culture and history that make up our entire OU Community.

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