Shared reading experience not limited to paper
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 06/17/2009
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Purdue’s Common Reading Program began in earnest Tuesday with the first day of the Summer Transition, Advising and Registration program.
Each freshman and transfer student in attendance will receive a copy of “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner,” a memoir by Bich Minh Nguyen, associate professor of English at Purdue. The book was selected in January as a shared academic experience for all new students.
Incoming students, including international students who are not able to participate in STAR, will receive an electronic copy of the book. Drew Koch, committee co-chair and director of STAR, said the committee chose not to take the entire program paperless for financial reasons and convenience.
“It was actually less expensive to go with paper,” he said. “And for portability around campus, paper works best.”
Mailing hard copies to incoming international students was less reasonable. Sending electronic copies was the cheapest and most reliable way of ensuring the students had access to the book, said Koch.
The committee put paper copies in many students’ hands, however, to facilitate their participation in the program’s co-curricular activities. Orientation leaders will incorporate the book into activities during BGR, professors will link the book to class material, and a Books and Coffee discussion session will be held this fall.
James Mullins, dean of libraries, wrote in an e-mail that featuring a Purdue faculty member’s book during the program’s pilot year has allowed much more author participation than would ordinarily be possible.
“If the author had been from outside the University it would have been a ‘one-time’ visit to the campus, (with) little other opportunity for interaction,” he said. “However, we do want to stress that it is not expected that future authors will be from Purdue faculty; each year the books will be reviewed and the book chosen on its own merits.”
Nguyen will speak to freshmen during two sessions the Sunday before classes begin. She has also spoken with orientation leaders and RAs about integrating the book into their programming.
“Stealing Buddha’s Dinner” tells the story of Vietnamese native Nguyen’s childhood in Grand Rapids, Mich.
“By reading this book, our first-year students will be able to see American culture through different eyes and viewpoints than may be their experience,” Mullins said. “I would encourage all students to read this book; it is a well-written account of a young woman’s transition to the American culture and society.”
The book has also been chosen as the 2009-2010 Great Michigan Read.