The Writing Teacher Next Door

Laura Howard offered plenty of legal advice last semester, but it wasn't to a client. She helped a Duke undergraduate with writing assignments in a "Legal Issues in Education" class.

A Duke alumnus with a background in teaching and law, Howard is back at Duke, where this fall she provided feedback and comments on junior Rose O'Connor's written class assignments as part of the Duke Reader Project.

The program matches students in participating classes with an employee or alumni reading buddy, who provides "reader-based" feedback on drafts of writing projects.

"I studied these issues in law school, and I've practiced this type of law, so I thought it would be a topic where I could really be helpful to a student," said Howard, a graduate fellow in the Program in Education. "I think it's a lot of fun doing this kind of research and talking about this kind of legal issue."

To take part in the Duke Reader Project, faculty and staff should go to dukereaderproject.org, select "Alumni and Employee Sign Up" and answer the questions. Each semester, volunteers receive a list of participating classes from which to choose. A reader partners with a student; throughout the semester, the two meet in person or online to discuss a paper or other writing assignment.

Volunteers should expect to spend three to four total hours each semester working with a student, said Cary Moskovitz, director of the Duke Reader Project and Duke's Writing in the Disciplines program. About 100 reading volunteers participate with the program every semester, providing reactions to the students' writing as a "consumer" of the text, rather than as an editor or evaluator.

Volunteers in the Reader Project this fall provided feedback for students writing movie reviews for "Films of Spike Lee," case studies for "American Business History" and congressional testimony for "Conserving the Variety of Life." Moskovitz, said the beauty of the program is that a variety of classes take part in the program each semester, offering readers with different interests and backgrounds the chance to participate.

"Often, the most appropriate readers for student papers are people with less expertise than their instructor, but are knowledgeable about the field and have an interest in the class topic," Moskovitz said. "We're not just looking for people who have expertise as writers or editors, but people who have an interest in providing useful feedback on a variety of subjects."

For her interactions with her student partner, Howard met several times during the fall semester to help navigate the complexities of a well-written legal brief.

"I wrote those briefs, and I know it can be tough doing research and writing a first draft," she said. "I like the fact I can help guide Duke students as they learn about and explore these issues."