One of the highlights from new student orientation was our inaugural Common Read discussion of the graphic novel Why Art? by Eleanor Davis on August 20, 2019. All first-year students participated in group discussions led by a faculty member or graduate student to discuss the novel’s themes of transformation, power and empowerment, sensory experience and self and society.
This common read experience gives incoming students, who often come from very different backgrounds, a shared experience. At the same time, moderated discussions of the reading can bring the diversity of student viewpoints to the forefront and provide an occasion for modeling the intellectual engagement with different ideas that is expected in college. Students informed us that this Common Read event was one of their favorite sessions.
