Be Here Now at A&L

You can always make an appointment at A&L to revise a paper, practice for critique, design your resume, and more. You can also just stop by to focus or daydream in good company. We’re open M-F 9-5; find us on the Fleet Library’s 2nd floor; take elevators 5 or 6, after Portfolio Café.

On Thursdays in October, from 12-1 PM, join A&L's Multilingual Learning Staff for informal workshops on Speaking in Crit. Bring your lunch and your work (or images of works). We'll practice finding the language to describe it and the skills to talk about it with confidence. No RSVP required; come once or every week. Discover more about multilingual learning at RISD at our Multilingual Learners Hub.

Join us for Write Here, Write Now—an all-day group writing retreat—on Sunday, November 9, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Come all day or just for an hour; bring something you’re writing—from a Liberal Arts paper to a cover letter to a poem (anything goes)—something you’re just getting started or something you’re ready to polish. We’ll set goals, write individually, and share our progress together. A&L staff and tutors will be here to offer resources, feedback, and lunch! RSVP to artsandlanguage@risd.edu.

Simone Niquille (BFA GD 2010), Be Here Now/Be Nowhere, 2010 (an old favorite text-based work from the archives here at A&L)

v.1 Welcomes All to Fall

v.1, RISD’s by-students, for-students literary, art, news publication, held its first event of the year on Sept. 29 in Carr Haus, welcoming readers from last spring’s issue and future contributors, too. See a few pix below and visit volume-1.org for details on how to submit!


Meet A&L's Multilingual Learning Specialist

Please help us welcome Alden Taylor, A&L’s new Multilingual Learning Specialist. Alden tutored in a college writing center (at Williams College, where he studied history), received a Master’s degree in China Studies from Yenching Academy of Peking University, taught English in Taipei, and was a bilingual assistant in Middlebury College’s summer language immersion programs. Alden’s linguistic and cultural experiences, love of writing, and investment in diverse learning communities (including Providence, where he grew up) will make him a wonderful colleague and resource for RISD’s multilingual students. He will be available for tutoring starting May 1 and throughout the summer and beyond. Please reach out to artsandlanguage@risd.edu to pre-connect in the meantime.



A&L Is Hiring for ’25-26

A&L employs about 30 undergrads and grads each year in two different roles: peer tutor and v.1 (volume-1.org) editor/designer. Both offer great opportunities to share your skills, learn new ones, and meaningfully connect with students across campus. 

Please see peer tutor application info here.

Please see v.1 staff application info here.

Faculty and staff: if you know students who would be strong candidates for either of the above positions, please encourage them to apply.

Putting our heads together at A&L.

v.1’s Fall issue reading at Carr Haus.

And the Essay Contest Winners Are …

On April 11, we announced and celebrated the winners of the second annual Redefining Writing Essay Contest. Many thanks to the jury of students and faculty who chose four stand-out essays that truly push the boundaries of genre and scholarly discourse. This year, the selected essays take the form of a film script, a poem, a digital experiment, and a spreadsheet!

Congratulations to contest winner Frey Wood (FAV 2007) and to the authors of our honorable mentions—Henry Ding (Arch 2026), Ellen Fritz (PT 2025), and Nathan Petree (BRDD FAV and Literary Arts 2028). You can read their essays at the link above and in the Spring issue of v.1.

A&L Coordinator Senjuti Sangia presents an award to Ellen Fritz; essay contest winner Frey Wood is seated.

Out of the Picture Screening and Discussion

We can’t wait to see this documentary about seismic changes in the field of art criticism, to hear from the filmmaker, and to learn from the gathered art critics about where we go next.

Out of the Picture is a feature-length film about art critics living through a period of transformation for both art and media. These writers share their life’s work translating the experiences of art for others. Following the screening, hear from the filmmaker, Mary Louise Schumacher, in conversation with local and regional writers including Charlotte Abotsi, Jeneé Osterheldt, and moderated by artist Tyanna Buie, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director in RISD’s Printmaking Department.

Thursday, March 6 / 6:30-9 pm Metcalf Auditorium

Words & Work workshop

Wintersession is a great time to step back, reflect, and write about your work—whether for an artist statement, a grad school application, a grad thesis, a final crit, a website, or just for yourself. Join Jen Liese at A&L on Sunday, January 26, from 2–4 PM for Words & Work, a workshop featuring prompts and examples on form, process, materials, context, precedents, and purpose. (Yes, there will be snacks!)

Fall's v.1 is Out and About

The Fall issue of v.1 is here! Find your copy in lobbies about campus or in A&L. If you’re lucky you might find one with a special artwork tucked inside. That’s right, select issues include an original window from v.1’s fall installation at the Color Lab. And every issue has a lovely centerfold poster to brighten up your winter walls. Enjoy!

v.1's Fall Kick-Off 9/30

v.1 (volume-1.org) is RISD’s by-students and for-students arts, literary, and news publication. and they have an invitation for you: 

Take a look upwards and outwards. What do you see through your window? A canal swan, a friend, a fallen street lamp? And what do you wish to see? A giraffe? Full bellies? World peace?  

Come share your views! Join v.1 at Carr Haus (210 Benefit Street) in a kickoff event from 6:30 to 8:00 PM on Monday, September 30th. Hear readings from v.1’s Spring 2024 edition, meet the editors, and learn how to contribute to the Fall issue. Finally, write or draw your “view through the window” and you’ll be part of our upcoming installation in the Color Lab during Families Weekend! 

v.1 is also open year-round for essays, critiques, manifestos, fiction and nonfiction, interviews, declarations, and so on and so forth. Submission guidelines are on volume-1.org’s home page.

Drop by the Center for Arts & Language anytime to peruse past issues of v.1.

v.1’s WS 2024 Readers’ Room in the RISD Museum, Jan. 28, 2024; photo by Erik Gould, credit: Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

Language Lunches, Spanish Edition!

¡Hola! Do you speak Spanish, or want to learn? Please join the Center for Arts & Language this semester for our first Language Lunch series: a Spanish language learning group. Open to students, staff, and faculty. All levels are welcome to come practice, learn, teach, and get to know one another. Come to one or several sessions—it’s not required to sign up for the whole series.

Thursdays 12 - 12:45 pm 
5 weeks: September 26; October 3, 10, 17, 24 
Center for Arts & Language 
15 Westminster Street/ Fleet Library, 2nd floor 

Snacks, activities, and conversation provided! Bring your own lunch. 
Facilitated by Maya Krinsky (A&L) and Alicia Luzon (Human Resources) 
Hosted by A&L in collaboration with the Center for Social Equity and Inclusion 
RSVP: mkrinsky01@risd.edu 

Now Hiring!

A&L is currently accepting applications for Graduate Peer Tutors for the 2024–25 academic year. To give students an insider perspective on the position, we asked current tutors to answer a few questions.

Find the full job description and link to the application form on our hiring page.

The application period for Undergraduate Peer Tutor has closed and all positions have been filled.

Redefining Writing: Undergraduate Essay Contest

At the Center for Arts & Language, our mission is to fortify and amplify artists’ and designers’ voices at RISD and in the world. We believe that expression through words as well as work is empowering and edifying, enabling artists and designers to tell their own stories and make vivid contributions to scholarly and public discourse. We understand and honor language as a representation of diverse identities, experiences, and beliefs. As an expression and extension of these values, A&L invites students to participate in the inaugural Redefining Writing Essay Contest. 

This writing contest seeks stand-out examples of essays composed by RISD undergraduates that push the boundaries of genre and challenge the traditional limits of scholarly discourse. Submissions should be focused on an idea worth sharing—a specific argument or point of view. They should therefore include some form of research, whether bibliographic, autoethnographic, experimental, or something else. We especially encourage multimodal and/or plurilingual submissions. Multimodal essays combine forms of communication: text, video, images, etc. Plurilingual essays use more than one language and/or multiple styles/dialects/forms of English: global Englishes, Spanglish, African American Vernacular English, etc. All of these stretch the boundaries of “standard” or “traditional” scholarly writing, and we look forward to seeing how RISD students use them to better convey ideas. 

One winner will receive $100 in RISDBucks and have their submission published in A&L’s online archive and in the student publication v.1.  
Honorable mentions will receive $50 in RISDBucks and have their submission published in A&L’s online archive and in the student publication v.1.  

See the full call for submissions for more information, including the list of judges and how to submit. 



Events and the A&L Calendar

A&L’s office is a sunny, comfy, flexible space for tutoring and independent reading, writing, and reflecting. We also host occasional events, class workshops, v.1 staff meetings, and more. Keep an eye on our calendar (link above on the homepage) for announcements.

Sculpture seniors visit for an artist statement workshop, September 2023.

Hiring Is Happening, and A&L Wants You!

Have you ever…

… enjoyed peer review as much as your own writing process?

… noticed your friends repeatedly coming to you for advice on assignments?

… appreciated a tutoring session so much you wanted to share it with others?

… wished for a way to engage in the RISD community by helping your fellow students?

… wanted to get paid for all of the above?

If so, then tutoring might be the right fit for you. Now’s your chance to apply for a position for the 2023–24 academic year.

No prior tutoring experience is necessary. All positions will be filled no later than August; early applications are encouraged. Learn more and apply today.

A&L’s Graduate Language Intensive Is Expanding

This summer, A&L’s staff will be offering two sections of the Graduate Language Intensive (GLI)—one online and one on campus. This 1-credit summer course provides incoming graduate students with a linguistic, cultural, and academic foundation for advanced study and serves as an introduction to academic culture in the US.

GLI is designed for multilingual and international students who want to expand their English-language skills in preparation for writing, critique, presentations, understanding lectures and advanced readings, and other grad school communication work. This is not a traditional language class; all course materials are drawn from academic fields and interests surrounding your graduate study at RISD.

Here’s more information on the course and registration.

Last year’s online summer language intensive students at a fall reunion.

Grad Thesis Writing Lounge starts this Friday!

The Center for Arts & Language welcomes all grads to the Grad Thesis Writing Lounge.

Don’t wait til Sunday night. Join fellow grad thesis writers Friday afternoons to get that writing rolling before the weekend. This is an informal gathering — write alone, together, or alone together! Our staff is available to offer support, share resources, play the music of your choice, or just talk. 

Come by! Fridays, 2-4 pm, starting Feb 24, 2nd floor of the Library. No RSVP required.

And yes, peer tutors are available to work with thesis writers one-on-one anytime. Make a one-time appointment or email us at artsandlanguage@risd.edu to set up weekly or biweekly appointments.

Postmarked Ready for Sale, Issue #01

RISD’s new annual publication Postmarked is available for sale on the Postmarked website!

The first issue explores the idea of Sonder, a spontaneous moment of realization that each passerby is living a life as vivid, complex, and precious as your own. It features more than 20 artists & designers from various departments and disciples at RISD. You can purchase the first issue on the website or come check out A&L’s copy just inside our door on the bookshelves.







Fall Welcome and News

Hello, RISD! 

It's been a busy summer at the Center for Arts & Language (A&L), and we can't wait to share some news. But first, for anyone new to RISD and/or A&L ...

What We're All About

A&L honors the power of language to shape our work, ideas, beliefs, selves, and engagement with others. A&L's staff and tutors provide (free!) peer tutoring for all RISD students in written, spoken, visual, and multilingual communication; workshops and events; and self-study guides. We are also the headquarters for v.1 (volume-1.org), RISD's student-led publication. 

Visit us on the second floor of the Fleet Library (take the second set of elevators, past the café). We are open Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm, with additional tutoring hours nights and weekends. Students can come for tutoring, faculty for collaboration, and anyone is welcome to write, read, draw, think, ask questions, or just relax in our communal space.

New This Fall

—Two new self-guided workshops on Communication Skills and Research Practices. These Canvas-based workshops are available to students and faculty for their open use anytime year-round. 

—A workshops and events calendar, including an info session on the Communication Skills workshops on September 21.

—Our Brave Space poster, which features our tutors' self-created guidelines for inclusive dialogue.

—A centralized Multilingual Learners Hub, where multilingual students seeking English-language and curricular support can find our offerings in one place.

—"Language partner sessions" for students who want to practice English language skills with a peer tutor. (Sign up for peer tutoring as usual and check the language partner box.) 

Peer Tutoring Kicks Off 

It was a joy to launch the tutoring season on Sunday, when we all gathered at A&L for our first meeting ...

and tried out a language-partner activity in which one person describes an image while others draw what they hear …

Thanks for reading, keep an eye on our homepage for announcements throughout the year, reach out anytime, and we can't wait to see you around.

Happy fall!

All of us at A&L

Welcome to Our Brave Space (Poster)

Enormous thanks to former A&L tutor and GD MFA grad Lydia Chodosh for transforming our tutors’ self-created guidelines for inclusive dialogue from brainstormed notes into a beautiful new poster! We’re so happy to be able to share the values at the heart of our practice and would welcome hearing from others on campus who’ve created shared understandings for community dialogue.

Oh, and the poster is also a postcard; stop by and pick one up anytime.