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The 12th-annual First-Year Reading Experience, scheduled for Aug. 15, will be as much a feat of logistical planning as it will be a morning of stimulating discussion.
That’s because the University is for the first time inviting the entire freshman class—as many as 3,400-plus students—to participate. In past years, participation was limited to 750 freshmen from University 101 sections and the Honors College.
During freshman orientation this summer, students will receive a paperback copy of British writer Mark Haddon’s bestseller, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time. The novel is narrated by a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome who, in attempting to solve the mystery of a “murdered” dog, learns unsettling secrets about his parents.
“I sometimes ask my anthropology students, ‘What book do you think everyone has read or what movie has everyone seen?’ There’s never one answer that covers everyone,” said Karl Heider, associate provost, dean of undergraduate affairs, and chair of the First-Year Reading Experience Committee. “This year, all freshmen will have something in common: along with being Gamecocks, they will all have read this book.”
Freshmen will gather Aug. 15 at the Coliseum for a panel discussion about the book, then break up into groups of 20 to talk about it with faculty and staff discussion leaders. As in previous years, about 30 students in graphic design professor Peyton Rowe’s classes submitted designs for promotional posters for the First-Year Reading Experience novel. Those designs and the winning poster will be on display along the Coliseum concourse during the morning of the event.
Carrie Linder, assistant director of University 101, is working out the logistical details of this year’s First-Year Reading Experience, which will require about 175 discussion leaders, or about 100 more than in previous years.
“We’re reserving rooms all over campus for the group discussions,” she said. “and we’re planning to issue student tickets at the Coliseum that will have everyone sitting with people in their respective groups so it will be easier for each group to stick together.”
Other events related to the First-Year Reading Experience could include an exhibit at Thomas Cooper Library, a play reading that deals with autism, and movies on the Gamecock cable channel.
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