{"135151":{"#nid":"135151","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Community Invited to Support Freshman Reading","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen it comes to the Freshman Reading Program, its success relies just as much on faculty and staff support as it does on student participation.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause this year\u2019s book, \u2018The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks\u2019 by Rebecca Skloot, covers so many areas relevant to the Tech community, we are hoping to engage a wide range of faculty and staff from those researching and teaching biomedicine, immunology and research ethics, to those thinking about the convergence of race and medicine, public policy and community involvement,\u201d said Nirmal Trivedi, assistant director of the Center for Academic Success and Freshman Reading Program director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach year, the Freshman Reading book is selected by a committee comprised of faculty, staff and students. Incoming freshmen learn about the program and receive their copy of the book over the summer when they attend FASET orientation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAll members of the campus community are encouraged to read the book and participate in the related reading groups, speaker series and student-led forums held during the academic year. These events are currently being planned and will be updated on the Academic Success website throughout the semester.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to these activities, faculty members and English 1101\/1102 and GT 1000 instructors often integrate the book into their lesson plans. This is something that Beth Bullock Spencer, senior assistant director for the Center for Academic Success, has done in her GT 1000 classes since 2009.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGT 1000 instructors often feel very pressed for time, but I\u2019ve always had good luck using the Freshman Reading book as a foundation for out-of-class journal assignments,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cHaving students write reflective pieces on the book provides a good base for productive classroom discussions. I also encourage my students to attend the campus Freshman Reading Lecture, which I use to spark another in-class discussion.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen it came to integrating last year\u2019s text, Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream: Writing and Speeches that Changed the World\u201d into Esther Jordan\u2019s GT 1000 course, she also encouraged students to attend several campus events related to the reading.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAnd we invited Stephanie Ray, associate dean of students, to speak to our class,\u201d said Jordan, who is a visiting assistant professor in the School of International Affairs. \u201cShe performed a monologue in the voice of Coretta Scott King \u2014 which was amazing and really resonated with students \u2014 and then engaged them in a dialogue about the text.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFaculty and staff who are interested in integrating the Freshman Reading text into their classes or coordinating programs around the book should contact Trivedi for a desk copy. The Center for Academic Success website provides information about the book\u2019s major themes, assignment ideas and forums for discussing possible ways to use the book.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are also looking for faculty to get involved with programs ranging from panels to facilitated discussion groups,\u201d Trivedi added.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo get involved, contact \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nirmal.trivedi@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETrivedi\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen it comes to the Freshman Reading Program, its success relies just as much on faculty and staff support as it does on student participation.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"When it comes to the Freshman Reading Program, its success relies just as much on faculty and staff support as it does on student  participation."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-06-13 13:09:25","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:22","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2012-06-11T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"135131":{"id":"135131","type":"image","title":"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks","body":null,"created":"1449178671","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:37:51","changed":"1475894763","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:03","alt":"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks","file":{"fid":"194784","name":"immortal-life.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/immortal-life_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/immortal-life_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":565813,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/immortal-life_0.jpg?itok=xhKSVcEn"}}},"media_ids":["135131"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/success.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for Academic Success"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1506","name":"faculty"},{"id":"4223","name":"freshman"},{"id":"35871","name":"Freshman Reading Program"},{"id":"4796","name":"reading"},{"id":"167018","name":"staff"},{"id":"35881","name":"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nirmal.trivedi@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ENirmal Trivedi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECenter for Academic Success\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}