University Times

Common reading programs are taking root on college campuses as a way to create community as well as to provide a shared intellectual experience.

Prompted by Juan Manfredi, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, Pitt joined a growing number of schools this fall as it launched a common reading program for students participating in the courses offered by the A&S Office of Freshman Programs.

Pitt’s selected book, “Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet” by University of Oregon history professors Ian McNeely and Lisa Wolverton, was integrated into the freshman programs course curriculum. Of Pitt’s fall class of 2,714 full-time students, 65 percent (1,757) were enrolled in a freshman programs course.

A year ago, Manfredi gave freshman programs office director Laura Dice and her staff the task of integrating a common reading program into Pitt’s existing freshman seminar curriculum after noting that other high-quality universities offered such reading programs for new students.

The Pitt program’s stated goals are to welcome students into the University community through a shared intellectual experience; to encourage the growth of an intellectual community through reading, discussion and activities; to develop a sense of community among students, faculty and staff, and to reinforce the importance of reading as an integral part of a liberal arts education.

Manfredi said he wanted to promote the value of a liberal arts education at a time when so many students focus their educational efforts narrowly on the job they plan to get after graduation. He considers the first four years of higher education an opportunity for “infrastructure building,” given that the vast majority of students say they intend to continue their education beyond a bachelor’s degree.

The freshman year in particular, Manfredi said, “is the perfect moment to tell students to think big” and to expose them to the value of a broad-based liberal arts education that isn’t necessarily directly tied to their future careers.

The initial year of the freshman reading program endeavor has been a learning experience for participants and program organizers alike.

Dice said she and her staff sprang into action to find an appropriate book. Not only did they need to have a complete program in place in time for fall term, they had to get the book into the hands of course instructors in time for workshops held in April.

Assistant director of freshman programs Russ Maiers said it was a challenge to find a book that fit the existing curriculum, which contains six required topics: transition to college, academic skills and services, academic integrity, importance of the liberal arts, polite and professional communication and educational goals.

“We were all searching and suggesting,” Dice said, noting that the goal of tying a book into an existing curriculum apparently is unique. In researching similar programs,  “We didn’t see any that tried to integrate it into a course like we did.”

Freshman programs office staff member Sarah Hrisak ultimately found McNeely’s book while searching online. The book, which traces the history of the institutions that have shaped knowledge from the ancient library at Alexandria to the present, coincidentally is divided into six chapters that complement the freshman curriculum’s six topics.

Getting 85 instructors and 1,700 students all on the same page was a big challenge, Dice said. Instructors were given broad leeway in using the book. “Everyone was expected to have some incorporation of the book into their classes,” she said, noting that some instructors required students to read the entire book; others chose to assign excerpts.

In addition to the reading, Dice’s office developed a six-part series of films and faculty presentations billed as “Freshman Fridays at 5,” organized a “Republic of Letters” Scrabble tournament  and wrapped up the program with a lecture by McNeely.

The freshman course always has incorporated events and activities, and always has had the same required topics. “The book added another layer of material and responsibility to the course,” Dice said.

McNeely’s talk was entertaining and well received, Dice said. However, some students in the audience of more than 1,600 apparently took McNeely’s lecture title, “900 Years of Unruly Students,” to heart, behaving in a loud, unruly manner during the talk or leaving before the author’s question-and-answer session.

Dice noted that the embarrassing experience was a lesson learned: Next year, they plan to better prepare students on proper behavior — a perfect tie-in with the “polite and professional communication” portion of the curriculum.

As the 12-week freshman courses wrap up, programmatic and anecdotal assessments are being collected. Dice said next fall’s common reading will focus again on McNeely’s book. Feedback will be compiled by mid-December and used in improving the program for next year.

While the freshman program is the newest iteration of the concept here, students aren’t the only ones participating in common reading programs at Pitt.

In conjunction with Bradford’s community library, Pitt-Bradford writing professor Nancy McCabe helped launch the One Book Bradford (OBB) community reading program three years ago. The OBB program targets a wide audience that includes both the Pitt regional campus and the Bradford community.

OBB incorporates community events, a public talk by the author as  well  as author  visits  to McCabe’s writing classes.

“I’m always excited to get people reading and talking about books,” McCabe said, noting that a community-wide reading program poses its own special challenges due to the multiple constituencies that must be considered.

The process of selecting a book takes several months as a committee of about a dozen community members read and discuss various books and consider the potential for community-wide events that would accompany the reading. Also a factor is the author’s availability to come to Bradford.

As an academician, McCabe admits she has an interest in controversial works, but for a community program, the chosen book must be quite the opposite  and of interest to a wide range of people as well. “It’s a delicate balancing act,” she said.

The committee ensures one connection to the community by selecting a book with some local tie. The initial selection, “City of Light” by Lauren Belfer, was set in Victorian times in nearby Buffalo, N.Y. Events included a community bus trip to sites mentioned in the book, a Victorian tea and a talk about life in Bradford at the turn of the century by a local historian.

Snow, not surprisingly, prompted the selection of the second book, “The Children’s Blizzard” by David Laskin. “Winter is a really huge presence in Bradford,” McCabe said.

Mark Twain, who wrote many of his works at his summer home near Elmira, N.Y., is the connection for the most recent selection, “Becky, the Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher” by Lenore Hart. Events related to the book will include a performance by a Twain impersonator in January and a performance of an original Twain-themed short play in February.

The author’s visit, set for March 31, will include public readings, book signings, class visits and a lecture about the writing process.

McCabe said the author’s appearance plays a critical role in making the chosen book more than mere words on a page.

“It makes people see the books in a different way,” she said, adding, “The authors typically are tickled that everyone’s doing these events around their work.”

McCabe said her students are inspired by the opportunity for informal conversation with a “real author” (never mind that their teacher is one herself) who can offer insight into the professional aspects of writing as a career. “They are pleasantly surprised that authors are real people,” she said. “It transforms the way they view literature.”

The community-wide nature of the program takes the conversation beyond academic discussion. The public sessions tend to bring questions about the book and how it was written but also inspire inquiries about the author and the autobiographical elements that may have appeared in the work.

Attendees who otherwise may have eschewed a literary reading often are pleasantly surprised to find they aren’t the stuffy events they had envisioned, McCabe said.

Although each year’s selection generates buzz in the community, it’s not as if everyone in town reads the book, she said. But, by the end of the year it’s fairly certain that everyone in the area at least has heard about the book.

Even the non-readers can be drawn in, McCabe said, adding that some get interested and later pick up the book as a result of the events. “They become more and more curious,” she said.

Faculty at Pitt have their own opportunity for shared reading as well. Each fall and spring, faculty book and article discussions sponsored by the Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence in conjunction with Pitt’s Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education provide faculty the opportunity for focused discussion on some aspect of teaching.

Joanne Nicoll, associate director for instructional development at CIDDE, said, “They like the opportunity and they want the opportunity to talk with others about teaching.” She said the book and article discussions offer the added benefit of interdisciplinary sharing as faculty from across the University talk together about the selected reading. “We get really good feedback from faculty,” she said. “Many faculty come saying they have no opportunity to do this departmentally.”

The program, initially funded for three years, last year was extended for another three years. The series has grown from a book discussion to the current schedule of two book and two article discussions each fall and spring.

Nicoll said shared readings give participants a focused opportunity for discussion. “Book discussions are big in the general population. People want to talk about a book they’re exploring.

“People love to share,” Nicoll said, noting that the opportunity to reflect is an important part of learning.

“It’s the reflection that builds knowledge and skills.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow