Keep an eye out for your Freshman Reading Program book, which will be arriving in your mailbox in late summer. Chosen by a selection committee of students, faculty, and staff, the Freshman Reading Program book is an interesting and stimulating read around which your first academic exercise at Washington University will be based. Complete the book before your arrival on campus and explore its themes in your mind. What do you think? What are your opinions? What would you like to ask your new classmates or professors?
The Freshman Reading Program book for 2009 is When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka. This vivid and haunting novel follows a family sent away to a Japanese internment camp in the spring of 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It explores themes of identity, loss, racial profiling, and injustice. You don't even have to worry about buying the book! You'll get it in the mail later in the summer.
During Orientation, you will participate in a faculty-led discussion of the book along with students from your freshman floor. We urge you to approach the Freshman Reading Program discussions in a spirit of openness and the delight of discovery. This is a unique and valuable opportunity to challenge yourself, share your ideas, learn about different viewpoints, and to meet and engage in dialogue with your classmates and a renowned university faculty member. There are no right or wrong answers, no grades, and diverse viewpoints and perspectives will be encouraged and respected. The more involved you choose to be, the more you will take away from this experience.
Throughout the first semester, you will encounter themes from the book in classes, discussions, and engaging on-campus programming. Happy reading!
The Washington University Freshman Reading Program aims