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DOWNLOAD THE READER'S GUIDE (pdf file)
Philadelphia University instituted the FYE Summer Reading as a means to introduce the academic focus of our institution, help students see how various disciplines take different perspectives on a common book and allow students a chance to discuss ideas with faculty members in an informal setting before classes begin. In addition, it is our hope that this experience will provide first-year students with a shared intellectual experience in which to discuss ideas as they adjust socially and academically to a new community. Critical reading is a form of intellectual exercise that promotes critical thinking and supports college success.
William McDonough’s book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, has been selected as the 2009 First Year Experience Summer Reading Program book. The book itself, printed on “synthetic paper” is an innovative and interesting embodiment of McDonough’s content. The pages, made from plastic resins and other inorganic materials can then be recycled with other plastics similar to yogurt containers. McDonough, a designer and architect with an international reputation and commitment to environmental sustainability, has co-authored the book with chemist, Michael Braungart, a Greenpeace activist and consult for industrial ecology has worked with the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency in Europe in the 1990’s.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a manifesto that calls for a radical change in the relationship of human industry to the environment using a model of “lifecycle development.” The model advocates for a regenerative stance and uses manufactured products that have exhausted their primary function as the material to create subsequent products. C2C mimics processes found in nature in which “materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms.”
New students at Philadelphia University received a copy of Cradle to Cradle when they visited campus during the first phase of New Student Orientation, START, during the summer when they registered for the their fall classes. Over the course of the summer, new students were encouraged to participate in a blog about the book sponsored by the Student Organization for Sustainable Action (SOSA).
When they returned to campus, new students were engaged in discussions about the book during New Student Orientation with faculty, staff and upper division students who also read the book. Ongoing programming sponsored by each of the University’s Schools provided additional forums to discuss issues raised in Cradle to Cradle. The book was also used in many of the courses taken by first year students including Writing Seminar I, and American Transitions. Faculty using the book in their classes also applied for mini-grants of up to $500 offered through the Office of Student Development to engage their students outside the classroom.
For questions regarding the First Year Experience Summer Reading Program please contact the Office of Student Development at (215) 951-2634 or the Office of Academic Affairs at (215) 951-2705.
Summer and Fall Programs:
July/August 2009
Sponsored by Student Organization for Sustainable Action (SOSA)
Summer Reading Group Discussions
Friday, August 21
1:30-3pm
SOSA Meeting & Book Critique
Thursday, September 17
11am
Performance Space
Film For Thought: Wall-E
Faculty Host: Dr. Tom Schrand
Wednesday, September 30
6pm
Performance Space
Can You Be Green & Make Green?
Faculty Panel Co-Sponsored by the School of Business Administration and School for Liberal Arts
Thursday, October 1
11am
Performance Space
The Future of Design Must Be Sustainable
Presentation by Nathan Shedroff, chair of the MBA in Design Strategy program at California College of the Art (CCA)
Thursday, October 8
11am
Tuttleman Auditorium
Film For Thought: The Man in the White Suit
Faculty Host: Dr. Barbara Kimmelman
Wednesday, October 28
6pm
Performance Space
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Book Selection Committee:
Shana Alston, Residence Life
Carol Hermann, School of Architecture
Ed Keidat, School of Business Administration
Barbara Kimmelman, School of Liberal Arts
Marcella McCoy, Honors Program
Dolores Pfeuffer-Scherer, Writing Across the Curriculum
James Savoie, Academic Affairs
Missy Stolfi, Student Development Programs
Pat Thatcher, Learning and Advising Center
Phil Tiemeyer, School of Liberal Arts
Aurélio Valente, Student Development Programs
Rachel Wilson, School of Science & Health
Previous Summer Reading Selections Include:
2008 - Whose Art Is It? by Jane Kramer
2007 - Song of the City by Nathaniel Popkin
2006 - Black Ice by Lorene Carey
2005 - Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell by Jane Golden, Robin Rice, and Monica Yant Kinney
Office of Student Development Programs
Community Service | First Year Experience | Spiritual Development
The Kanbar Campus Center, Suite 311
phone (215) 951-2634
fax (215) 951-2644
