Last year, John McCurdy noticed that discussions about
diversity in his History 115 class tended to gravitate,
time and time again, back to race and gender. So this year,
hoping to give students something a little different to
chew on, the Eastern Michigan University assistant history
professor sent out an e-mail to students before school
started.
"You know that book — "Autobiography of a
Face" — that
you were given at orientation?" the e-mail said. "Read
it."
 |
FACE TIME: Andrew Starosha, a freshman
from
Piqua, Ohio, reads "Autobiography of a Face"
in
the Student Center recently. The book, which
depicts a young woman who searches for
acceptance,
was chosen as a "Common Read"
by Campus Life before
the fall term began. Photo
by
Anthony Gattine |
"Autobiography of a Face" tells the story of author Lucy
Grealy's search for acceptance as a child and young adult,
after treatment for cancer forced doctors to remove one-third
of her jaw. Through Campus Life, a committee chose the
book as this year's Common Reading Experience. McCurdy
started the semester with the book and used it to put diversity
into a broader context.
"It spans her life from childhood through her early 20s," said
McCurdy. "I like it from that perspective. It's an age
group that students can relate to. There's a lot about
high school and growing up, a lot of introspection."
Campus Life provided some 3,000 copies of "Autobiography
of a Face" to new students, select faculty and librarians,
orientation leaders and resident advisers.
"We felt it has intellectual value; it has personal value,
and it brings up issues of diversity and of treating each
other well, as well as issues of students with disabilities," said
Campus Life Assistant Director Ramona Meraz. "It's also
approachable. It's not too long, or too short."
As part of the Common Read program, Campus Life is sponsoring
talks by photographer Kevin Connolly and author Frank Warren.
The lectures are free and count as Learning Beyond the
Classroom credit.
Connolly, who spoke Oct. 14, was born without legs. He
travels around the world, shooting pictures of people as
they notice him rolling by on his skateboard. He shared
his perspective and some of the 3,200 photographs in "The
Rolling Exhibit."
Warren, creator of the Web site/community art project, "Post
Secret," will speak Nov. 17, at 7 p.m., in the Student
Center Ballroom. Warren invites people to anonymously send
him their secrets on postcards, which he then posts on
his site.
"His whole talk is about these secrets we're keeping inside
and what happens when you release yourself from what you're
keeping in your mind," Meraz said. "It's the idea of community
and do we build a community that allows people to share
their secrets."
The Common Reading Experience has been a pilot program
in the Honors College and, more recently, in the Summer
Incentive Program. Meraz said Campus Life would like to
expand the read to other groups around campus but, for
now, the focus is on new students.
That hasn't stopped English Professor Mary Koral from
using the book to help her 200-level creative writing students
explore writing memoir, and Marion Dokes-Brown, a professor
of teacher education, is using "Autobiography of a Face" in
a 300-level class that looks at diversity in children's
books.
"We didn't want it to be about telling students what to
think about the book," Meraz said. "It's more like, 'Welcome
to freedom of thought.' We want to introduce them to the
idea of asking, 'What does this mean to me as a student?'"
For more information on the Common Reading Experience,
go to http://www.emich.edu/campuslife/?p=orientation-reading
