In 1994, Penn State tutors had just returned from the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing (NCPTW) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ron Maxwell, Director of the Penn State Writing Center at the time, recalls the tutors’ excitement: “Tutors from the Penn State Writing Center staff returned from the conference excited and inspired. ‘I wish we could do that twice a year,’ they chimed. ‘Wouldn’t it be terrific to talk with tutors from other places more often during the year?’ The tutoring community here at Penn State buzzed with excitement over the idea of getting to talk with other tutors, and so The Dangling Modifier was born.
As of Fall 2022, students in the writing tutor training course at Penn State discussed the future of The Dangling Modifier with the hope of bringing it back to life and making it even bigger than it was before. Following that semester, Peer Writing Tutor Kyli Ramsay received a grant to continue working on the site and to serve as its current Publishing Manager. To see the archives from the previous site, follow this link.
The Dangling Modifier is a site by peer tutors for peer tutors. Writing tutors at The Writing Center @ Penn State Learning regularly contribute content and updates to the site. They hope to foster learning among students and tutors to develop better, more confident writers and leaders in the writing center community. Content comes from undergraduate writing tutors all over the country. Submission topics cover personal experiences and writing center research as related to the writing center community. We publish writing across all mediums.
If you would like to write for The Dangling Modifier, submit here. This document outlines some FAQs about submissions for further information.
If you have further questions, contact danglingmodifier.psu.edu@gmail.com.