After returning from a study abroad experience in Argentina, Lauren Jablon ’24 was keen to get involved in independent research to round out her undergraduate experience. Jablon, a Writing Center consultant and professional writing and rhetoric major, returned to campus in winter 2024; by the time she graduated at end of spring semester, she had collaborated with Julia Bleakney, director of The Writing Center, and Paula Rosinski, director of Writing across the University, to research and publish a chapter related to students’ early adoption of and attitudes towards generative AI.
During the spring 2025 semester, Joblon worked on analyzing and visualizing the survey results. Her keen insights as a student and writing consultant, as well as her background in rhetoric and writing studies, helped the research develop in valuable ways. She presented an early version of this research at the 2025 Spring Undergraduate Reserch Forum and then turned her attention to the book chapter.
Joblon’s research was eventually published in the first full-length book about writing centers and generative AI: Writing Centers and AI: Generating Early Conversations, edited by Elizabeth Buck and Joshua Botvin, published by WAC-Clearinghouse in early 2026. Her chapter, “Understanding The Landscape of Generative AI Use among Writing Center Clients,” coauthored with Bleakney and Rosinski, presents an insightful analysis of Writing Center clients’ early views on the affordances and limitations of AI-use throughout the writing process.
