Summer Reading—The Gateway to the First Year Experience

As the hottest days of summer begin to arrive, there are, without a doubt, a lot of things on the average high school graduate’s mind. Where do summer reading assignments fall? While perhaps not in the prioritized position reserved for the beach or tanning, summer reading will play an integral part in the first year experience of many of 2010’s incoming college students. “[Our] main goal is to find a book with a diversity-related theme that gives us a jumping off point to talk about diversity issues,” says Cari S. Wallace, director of new student programs at the University of Dayton (Ohio). After an extensive search involving a committee of faculty, staff, and students, When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka was selected this year. The text will provide an important gateway into the first year experience. From the first days of orientation when students will discuss prepared essays to programming pertaining to Asian culture, Wallace notes how the book is only the beginning to understanding the institution’s commitment to diversity, community, and inclusivity.

Bentley University (Mass.) has similar plans in mind. “[We] approach it more from a thematic perspective—what is it we want to get students to read in order to have a fruitful discussion?” explains Gerry Stenerson, First Year Seminar associate dean. Themes like diversity and adjustment were ones deemed important for incoming students to delve into, and they were overwhelmingly present in A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind.  A story about the struggles a boy from a poor neighborhood faces entering an Ivy League school, the text helps students explore “who they are and how they fit in” to their own new college experience while addressing the fact that “it’s not an equal playing field for everyone,” Stenerson says. Students will continue that discussion during a semester-long first-year seminar and various on-campus projects, including a presentation by antiracism activist Tim Wise. 

The key to summer reading success seems to lie in the potential for integration of themes and issues once students get on campus in the fall. “In choosing the assignment, we wanted to find an author who could come to campus for a public presentation and some other smaller group discussions—meetings, dinner, etc.,” says Mark Graham, an associate professor of Religious Studies at The College of Wooster (Ohio), and a member of the planning committee for the 2010 Wooster Forum. Ali Eteraz and his memoir, Children of Dust, fit the bill. A central part to this year’s Wooster Forum, “South Asian Perspectives,” Eteraz’s book is a coming of age story that explores “his values, ideals, and the role he wishes to play in being a leader in this complex world… [speaking] to the place in life that many of our students find themselves as they work to figure out who they are, what values they hold, and how they will live in this world,” Graham explains. Beginning with a book discussion and introduction to the concept of critical inquiry, the themes of Children of Dust will be explored throughout the semester in the first-year seminar. 

What book has your institution assigned incoming students this year? How do you integrate the themes of your chosen text into campus life and real-world experience? Please share with us!  

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[Manuel Romero]

As part of Marymount Manhattan College’s Learning Communities program, now in its second year, MMC faculty selected Iranian author and artist Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis for the common reading. The entering freshman class is assigned to read The Complete Persepolis before arriving at the College in the fall. Satrapi’s graphic memoir was chosen for the class of 2014 because it presents a coming-of-age story that will challenge and engage students from diverse backgrounds and majors, and will expose freshmen to other cultures and issues that they might not normally face. Faculty will be drawing from the book to frame discussions, and the College will sponsor events relating to this award-winning book.

During student orientation, faculty panels featuring Professor of Political Science Kent Worcester, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Elizabeth Barre, Ph.D.; Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Chair of the Division of the Sciences Ann Jablon, Ph.D.; and Assistant Professor of English and World Literatures Cecilia Feilla, Ph.D., will discuss The Complete Persepolis, in the Theresa Lang Theatre on Friday, September 3 at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Learning Communities enrich the Marymount Manhattan experience for both freshmen and professors by connecting in three classes first-year students with common interests. In each of the 32 Learning Communities, students will share their experience with a group of 16 students, three instructors and an upper-class Peer Leader. An initiative of the Learning Communities, the Common Reading Program will provide freshmen with a shared experience as they adjust socially and academically to a new environment and will help students see how various disciplines take different perspectives on a common topic.