The annual Freshman Reading Program, now in its fourth year, helps incoming students tap into their potential and prepare for the spirit of inquiry and debate that is integral to the WUSTL academic community.
The program, aimed at providing students with an opportunity to meet and interact with a member of the WUSTL faculty in an informal discussion outside the boundaries of the classroom and formal academic requirements, focused this year on a book by Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.
Over the summer, incoming freshmen were sent Rank’s book, One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All.
Freshmen gathered Aug. 28 at various locations around the Hilltop Campus to participate in faculty-facilitated discussions of the book, in which Rank presents a compelling argument that poverty is now a condition experienced by the majority of Americans at some point in their lifetimes and is a condition that impacts all of U.S. society. More than 70 faculty members led discussions, including Chancellor Emeritus William H. Danforth.
“We wanted to choose a book that would generate thought-provoking discussions between faculty members and students,” said Karen Levin Coburn, assistant vice chancellor for students and dean for the freshman transition and a member of the reading program steering committee. “Professor Rank’s book raises questions of the individual’s role in the structure of society and challenges readers to ask new questions.”
The goal of the program, Coburn said, is to reach freshmen before they arrive on campus to help them focus on skills they will continue to cultivate throughout the year and their entire college careers.
“This is a great opportunity for freshmen to challenge themselves, to meet members of the faculty and to engage in dialogue with their classmates,” she said. “It provides new students with a forum for exchanging ideas with other students on their residence hall floor. Some faculty members are continuing the conversation with their group via e-mail.”
Freshmen will encounter themes from One Nation during the semester in classes, discussions and on-campus programming. The programs are further explorations of the issues raised in the book and the “higher sense of purpose” theme, which complements the Danforth Campus dedication celebration and lecture series. Students also will work with a portion of the text during the “Writing 1: Writing Culture” course at some point in their freshman year.
For more information and a list of upcoming events, go online to frp.wustl.edu.