The Center For Writing Excellence’s annual Multimodal Writing Contest was created to celebrate the innovative multimodal writing students are producing across the university, in their classes or in their on-campus or professional experiences. Hosted annually, all ������Ƶ undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit entries.

There are nine entry categories, divided according to the program, school, or experience in which the multimodal text was produced: arts and sciences, communications, business, education, health sciences, law, CORE curriculum, campus involvement, and internships. The contest welcomes any composition using two or more modes, such as text, images, video, and audio.

Winnters

Campus Involvement

Winner: Monika Jurevicius, for their Today at ������Ƶ article titled “Power+Place Collaborative feeds both mind and body with new culinary collaborations,” created in the Center for Design Thinking.

������Ƶ College, the College of Arts and Sciences

Winner: Maeve Draper, Hailey Youngman, Adelaide Malynn and Nina Doble for their infographic “The Buzz on Longer Freeze-Free Seasons,” produced in Kelsey Bitting’s ENS1710 class.

Runner-up: Zhikun Hao for the essay “Facing the Inner Upside Down: Trauma Psychology and Zen Meditation in Stranger Things,” produced in Pamela Winfield’s REL1175 class.

School of Communications

Winner: Anjolina Fantaroni for the multimedia story “Human Trafficking in Alamance County and the Fight Led by CrossRoads,” produced in Kelly Furnas’s Journalism 4970 class.

Runner-up: Landon Lepley for their short documentary and article “Savannah Ghost Tours,” produced in Alex Luchsinger’s Journalism 3150 class. The winner is

School of Education

Winner: Mia O’Brien for the advocacy brief “Access to After School Resources for At-Risk Youth,” produced in Heidi Hollingsworth’s EDU4670 class.

School of Health Sciences

Winner: Caroline Reich for the poster “Differences in Infants’ Hip and Knee Joint Angles in a Novice Versus Experienced Crawler,” produced with.
Srikant Vallabhajosula as part of URP 4999 independent study.

Runner-Up: MacKenzie Dudley for the project “Hand Under Hand,” produced in Alys Giordano’s DPT 7150 class.

Internship

Winner: Paige Millard for the multimedia bulletin board created as part of an internship with Lavender Hill Farm Marketing.

CORE Curriculum

Winner: Lily Mosbacher for the podcast “Degrees of Change: An Intergenerational Podcast,” produced in Olivia Choplin’s COR 1100 class.

Runner-up: Julia Raynor, Louis Diamond, and Jay Johnson for the slideshow “Modern Day Redlining in North Carolina,” produced in Heather Barker’s STS 1100 class.

Martha and Spencer Love School of Business 

Winner: Oskar Zimmer for the slideshow “Adobe Stock Valuation,” produced in Andrew Schwartz’s FIN4130 course.

Runner-up: Isabella Heredia for the slideshow “Duke Energy Valuation Project,” produced in Andrew Schwartz’s FIN4130 course.

Grand Prize

This year’s grand prize winners, selected from all category winners, are Anjolina Fantaroni for “Human Trafficking in Alamance County and the Fight Led by CrossRoads” and Lily Mosbacher for “Degrees of Change: An Intergenerational Podcast.”

This national celebration is hosted on or around Oct. 20 every year, and this year, the Center for Writing Excellence, as in previous years, sponsored various campus-wide events. This year’s events were coordinated by Writing Center Lead Consultant Grey Carr ’27. Hosts included The Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence, the Curriculum Resources Center in the School of Education, Live Oak Communications, Student Professional Development Center and Koenigsberger Learning Center, Undergraduate Research Program and The School of Law. The full list of events is below, and more details about the School of Law event are in this Today at ������Ƶ article.

Students attending the events were entered into a drawing to win one of several gift cards. Congratulations to all the winners who joined us on the National Day on Writing to celebrate the power of words!

Full list of events:

The Curriculum Resources Center,  “Thank a Professor” Gratitude Card Writing

The Writing Center,  “Words, Words, Words!” Magnetic Poetry drop-in

Student Professional Development Center & Koenigsberger Learning Center, “Peer Educators Cover Letter Workshop”

The Undergraduate Research Office, “Reflecting on your Research Journey Using the Fire Toolkit” drop-in event

Live Oak Communications, Tagline Tournament

������Ƶ Law-Greensboro campus, “������Ƶ Law Poetry Slam”

Charlotte Flex Law program, “Poetry Slam”

The Center For Writing Excellence’s annual Multimodal Writing Contest was created to celebrate the innovative multimodal writing students are producing across the university, in their classes or in their on-campus or professional experiences. Hosted annually, all ������Ƶ undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit entries.

There are nine categories in which to enter, divided by program, school or experience in which the multimodal text was produced: Arts and Sciences, Communications, Business, Education, Health Sciences, Law, CORE Curriculum, Campus Involvement and Internships. Any multimodal project could be submitted: any composition using two or more modes, such as text, images, video and audio.

In the School of Communications category, Ryan Kupperman won for his multimodal project “Detaining Futures.” Kupperman also won the contest’s Grand Prize for this entry. The runner-up in this category is the entire Journalism 3200 class, with “Out of State Vote Guide.”

In the Campus Involvement category, Aaron Chan won for his video project titled “The Legacy We Leave.” Aaron created this multimodal project while working with the Center for Design Thinking.

In the School of Arts and Sciences category, Brianna Sowell won for “Calmness of Water,” a story map produced in an ENG1100 course. The runner-up is Hannah Peterson, with “The Dress: A Media History,” an article produced in an ENG1100 course.

In the School of Education category, Janeeta Smith won with “Are We Protecting Young Girls in Our Schools From Entering Into Prison?”

In the School of Health Sciences category, the winners are Syndie Fearrin, Molly Boda and Kiera Oyen, with “Effects of Age and Dual-Tasking on Endurance Performance While Walking.” The runners-up are Sixela Caballero and Clarke Oliver with “Blood Flow of the Body.”

In the the School of Law category, the winners are Jennifer Benavides and Ayo Onasanya, with “Los Derechos de Trabajadores H-2A.” The runner-up in this category is Melanie Dutel, with “Demand for Damages.”

When Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence, had the chance to chair the annual , the theme of generative AI was an obvious pick. The conference, which attracted writing center directors, assistant directors, and graduate and undergraduate consultants, invited workshops and presentations addressing the affordances and challenges of using AI writing technologies in writing center appointments as well as for writing center administrative work.

Bleakney also knew immediately that being involved with organizing a conference from start to end would be a rewarding and educational experience for a student. Enter Hannah Hanson ’25, a Writing Center consultant and English major with a concentration in Teacher Licensure. Hanson worked on all aspects of the conference, including reviewing proposals, communicating with participants, coordinating with leaders of the International Writing Center Association, planning the conference proceedings and designing the program and name badges.

The conference, “2024 IWCA Collaborative@CCCC: Reckoning with Generative AI in our Writing Centers,” was held on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. (Each year, the conference is held adjacent to the larger , hence the “@CCCC.”)

On the day of the conference, Hanson and Bleakney staffed the welcome table and helped over 100 participants check in, find sessions and troubleshoot issues. Hanson was a keen and collaborative conference organizer from beginning to end and gained a valuable insider’s view of what it’s like to organize an academic conference.

The Multimodal Writing Contest invites students from all schools across the university to share their original multimedia works, which can be created for academic or professional purposes. The annual event welcomes current undergraduate and graduate students to participate. Submissions are invited by category according to the university’s schools or experiences: Arts and Sciences, Business, Communications, Education, Health Sciences, Law, CORE Curriculum and Capstone, Student Life, and Internships.

Each year, individuals and groups of students submit a varies of multimodal work such as music, podcasts, websites, infographics, interactive media, etc.

In March 2024, the Center for Writing Excellence held an award ceremony in Belk Library to announce and celebrate this year’s winners, as follows:

Campus Involvement

• Winner and overall Grand Prize Winner: James Hemmingway, with “Celebrating 10 Years of the Gender4 and LGBTQIA Center.”
• Runner Up: Kara McKinley, with “The Kernodle Center: The Heat of Civic Life.”

School of Arts and Sciences

• Winner: Anna Vassallo, with “Police Officer Interrogation Tactics: Adolescent Suspects and Suspects with Mental Illness.”

• Runner-Up: Delaney Guidi with “The Muffler.”

School of Communications

• Winner: Claire Cohen, with “Somewhere Between Pigs and Anchovies.”
• Runner Up: Jenna Manderioli, with “Finding Folk: The Festival of Discovery.”

School of Education

• Winner: Mary Heffernan with “Outdoor Education: The Lack of Access in Fairfield County.”
• Runner Up: Alex Miller, Nick Bush, and Chaney Patton, with “How Does Dual Tasking Effect Gait in Individuals Who Use Prosthetics.”

School of Health Sciences

• Winner: Kyle Lambert and Allison Russo, with “Skin Deep.”

School of Law

• Winner: Jennifer Benavides, with “Interview with Dean Kramer.”

The Center for Writing Excellence would like to thank this year’s judges: Associate Professor Ben Hannam, Assistant Professor Travis Maynard, Alison Van Norman and Dan Reis. The CWE also thanks Major LeGoullon ’24 for photographs of the event, and students from Paula Rosinki’s MMA4600 Multimodal Authoring class for producing a draft of this Today at ������Ƶ article.

Herman, a public health studies major with minors in business administration and professional writing studies, has spent two semesters analyzing surveys from students in courses with assigned Disciplinary Writing Consultants (DWCs). The DWC program, which has been running since 2015, assigns trained Writing Center consultants to individual courses; the consultants work with the faculty and provide tailored writing support throughout the semester to students in the course. The DWC Program is led by Paula Rosinski, director of Writing Across the University, and Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center.

Working alongside Bleakney, her research mentor, Herman has been exploring how and in what ways students benefit from having disciplinary writing consultants in their courses. Drawing on her analysis of student surveys as well as her own experience as a Disciplinary Writing Consultant in PHS2020, Public Health Studies Research Methods with Assistant Professor Yanica Faustin, Herman reflected in her presentation on the importance of the relationship between the consultant and the faculty for the success of the program.

Herman is working with Bleakney to turn the conference presentation into an article, which will be submitted to a writing center journal for consideration by the end of 2023.

This year the Center for Writing Excellence, as in previous years, sponsored campus-wide events. This year’s events were coordinated by Writing Center Lead Consultant Ava Crawford ’24. Hosts included The Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence, the Curriculum Resources Center in the School of Education, Powell House,  Live Oak Communications, and The School of Law.

The Writing Center event, “Writing isn’t Scary,” was a combined event for current students and visiting alumni during Homecoming. The School of Law event, “High Rhymes and Misdemeanors.” was judged by Greensboro’s Poet Laureate Josephus Thompson III. More details about the School of Law event are in this Today @ ������Ƶ article.

Students attending the events were entered into a drawing to win one of several gift cards. Congratulations to all the winners who joined us on the National Day on Writing to celebrate the power of words!

Beginning as part of ������Ƶ’s Writing Excellence Initiative, the Multimodal Writing Competition highlights established and emerging kinds of multimodal texts and celebrates the variety of multimodal writing happening across the campus in academic, co-curricular and professional spaces.

Individuals and groups of students were invited to submit multimodal projects such as posters, web texts, podcasts, infographics, interactive media, journalism and other forms of multimodal composition.

Projects were submitted in one of nine categories: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication, the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Health Sciences, the School of Law, the CORE curriculum, Student Life or Campus Employment and Internships.

In the School of Arts and Sciences category, the winner was Emily Holland ’22 for an infographic and the runner-up was Kayla Jacobs ’22 for a podcast. Holland completed her project in Heather Lindenman’s Writing Studies Survey course. Jacobs completed her project in Assistant Professor of Arts Administration David McGraw’s Legal Aspects course.

In the School of Communication category, the winners were Noah Jordan ’22, Michael Faccibene ’22 and Jess Kalinowski ’22 for a white paper. The runner-up was Ana Martinez-Valles for a motion design. Jordan, Faccibene and Kalinowski won the grand prize for their submission as well. The winners completed their project in Associate Professor of Journalism Amanda Sturgill’s Communicating Media Insights course, while Martinez-Valles completed her project in Associate Professor of Communication Design Phillip Motley Visual Aesthetics course.

In the School of Education category, the winner was Jack Corby ’22 for an advocacy brief and the runner-up was Lila Cohen ’22. They both produced an advocacy brief.

Corby and Cohen both completed their projects in the Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy course, taught by Associate Professor of Education Heidi Hollingsworth.

In the School of Health Sciences category, the winner was Jennifer Gehrin for an infographic, and the runners-up were Brendal Vargo, Shannon Franklin and Nathan Tometich for a poster. Gehrin completed her project in the DPT Clinical Practicum and the runners-up completed their project in DPT 6223, Research Design, taught by Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Education Srikant Vallabhajosula.

In the School of Law category, the winner was Cassandra Saxton for a poem and drawing, and the runner-up was Destinee Astheimer for a video presentation. Saxton completed her project in Professor of Law Sue Liemer’s LAW 668A21LB, Legal Methods and Communication course. Astheimer completed her project in LAW 759A, Negotiations, taught by Adjunct Professor Roy Baroff.

In the CORE curriculum category, the winners were Julianna Fazzino ’25, Abby Hollenbeck ’25, Emma Brunell ’24, Ben Kaplan ’25 and Alyssa Wise ’25 for a magazine. The winners completed their project in COR 1100 – The Global Experience, taught by Associate Professor of English Barbara Gordon.

In the Campus Involvement category, the winner was Kayla Shaw ’22 for a series of table tents, and the runner-up was Ridley Randolph ’22 for a promotional video. Shaw completed her project in Live Oaks Communication under the supervision of Assistant Professor of Communication Design Shannon Zenner. Randolph completed a project in the ������Ƶ Gender & LGBTQIA Center under Luis Garay, director of the GLC.

Finally, in the Internship category, the winner was Lily Kays ’22 and Hayley Loftus ’22 for a podcast series, and the runner-up was MJ Segal for a legal brief. Kays and Loftus completed their project as part of an internship at Spirit and Pride under the supervision of Luis Garay. Segal completed their project during a Residency at Legal Aid Greensboro under the supervision of Taleed el-Sabawi, assistant professor of law.

The grand prize winners are Noah Jordan, Michael Faccibene and Jess Kalinowski in the School of Communications for their white paper titled “Reddit as a Marketing Tool.”

In the School of Arts and Sciences category, Emily Holland won for an infographic, and the runner-up was Kayla Jacobs for a podcast. Holland completed her project in Heather Lindenman’s ENG 2090 Writing Studies Survey course and Jacobs completed her project in David McGraw’s AAD 3300 Legal Aspects course.

In the School of Communication category, the winners are Noah Jordan, Michael Faccibene, and Jess Kalinowski for a white paper completed in Amanda Sturgill’s MEA 3190 Communication Media Insights course. Ana Martinez-Valles was the runner-up in the School of Communication category for a motion design project completed in IME 6650 Visual Aesthetics taught by Phillip Motley.

In the School of Education category, Jack Corby won for an advocacy brief and Lila Cohen was the runner-up was Lila Cohen for an advocacy brief. Both Corby and Cohen completed their projects in EDU 4670 Early Childhood Policy and Advocacy taught by Heidi Hollingsworth.

In the School of Health Sciences category, the winner was Jennifer Gehrin for an infographic, and the runners-up are Brendal Vargo, Shannon Franklin and Nathan Tometich for a poster. Gehrin completed her project in the DPT Clinical Practicum; and the runners-up completed their project in DPT 6223 Research Design, taught by Srikant Vallabhajosula.

For the School of Law category, Cassandra Saxton won for a hand-drawn and written project, while Destinee Astheimer was the runner-up for a video presentation. Saxton completed her project in LAW 668A21LB Legal Metho and Communication, taught by Sue Liemer. Astheimer completed her project in LAW 759A Negotiations, taught by Roy Baroff.

In the CORE curriculum category, the winners were Julianna Fazzino, Abby Hollenbeck, Emma Brunell, Ben Kaplan and Alyssa Wise for a magazine on Somalia. The winners completed their project in COR 1100 – The Global Experience, taught by Barbara Gordon.

In the Campus Involvement category, the winner was Kayla Shaw for a series of table tents under the supervision of Shannon Zenner in Live Oaks Communication. Ridley Randolph placed second for a promotional video in the ������Ƶ Gender & LGBTQIA Center under Program Director Luis Garay.

Lily Kaye was the winner in the Internship category for a podcast series during an internship at Spirit and Prider under the supervision of Luis Garay. MJ Segal was the runner-up for a legal brief made during a residency at Legal Aid Greensboro under the supervision of Taleed el-Sabawi.

Starting as part of ������Ƶ’s Writing Excellence Initiative, the Multimodal Writing Competition highlights both established and emerging types of multimodal texts and celebrates the variety of multimodal writing happening across campus in academic, co-curricular and professional spaces.

Individuals and groups of students were invited to submit multimodal projects such as posters, webtexts, podcasts, infographics, interactive media, journalism, and other forms of multimodal composition. Projects were submitted in one of nine categories: the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Communication, the School of Business, the School of Education, the School of Health Sciences, the School of Law, the CORE curriculum, Student Life/Campus Employment and Internships.

The winners and runners-up will be acknowledged at an award ceremony on March 3 in the Center for Writing Excellence in Belk Library. Individual winners and runners-up received gift cards.

A Professional Writing and Rhetoric and Strategic Communications double-major and a writing consultant in ������Ƶ’s Writing Center, in the Center for Writing Excellence, Emily focused her research of a section of data from a larger research project. This larger project, based on survey responses from approximately 130 ������Ƶ students and alumni, explored how campus-originated writing experiences prepare students for writing tasks, especially in the workplace. These campus writing experiences include writing courses, writing tasks for campus organizations, work-integrated learning (such as internships), and on-campus employment (such as Writing Center consulting). Findings from this larger study, which Emily conducted in collaboration with Julia Bleakney, Li Li, Jessie Moore, and Paula Rosinski, will be published this fall in .

For her own research, working with research mentor Julia Bleakney, Emily focused on the survey responses from participants who worked as undergraduate Writing Center consultants while at ������Ƶ. She analyzed responses to questions such as their most frequently composed types of writing, their writing process, and their most valued types of writing. In alumni’s references to the Writing Center in open-ended survey questions, Emily noted how alumni used particular Writing Center consulting techniques (such as reading aloud or explaining the writing process to others) in their workplace writing. Emily found that in their workplace writing, Writing Center alumni used techniques they learned directly in the Writing Center, such as collaboration and awareness of the revision process, and other techniques they learned through the intersection of their Writing Center work with other university writing experiences.

Writing Center consultants know that their Writing Center experience helps them develop their writing process, shapes how they perceive and value writing, and prepares them for the workplace interactions around writing; the is an important replicated study that confirms this value. Emily’s research helps show how writing center work combines with other university writing experiences to benefit consultants in the long-term.