JACKSONVILLE, FL. (August 31, 2018) – The Edward Waters College (EWC) Shared Reading Experience was developed as a way to provide primarily first-year Edward Waters College students with a common educational experience, share new perspectives, and introduce them to the EWC family. The program is designed to provide primarily first-year students with an enjoyable and positive reading experience, to reinforce the message that reading is an integral part of the college experience, and to foster a sense of community amongst the College’s students. The College’s First-Year Seminar (FYS) course will include academic expectations based on the content of the shared reading selection.
Consistent with the College’s mission of nurturing a rich intellectual community, the EWC Shared Reading Experience (ESRE) challenges students, faculty, and staff to examine themselves and the local and global worlds they inhabit through reading. The readings and related discussions aim not only to encourage critical reflection about important issues but also to invite consideration of how our individual actions affect these issues.
The EWC Shared Reading Experience will:
- Offer diverse perspectives and commentary on key issues affecting our lives and provide a common experience for first-year learners to ease the transition into the academic community of the College;
- Build an intellectual community among first-year learners, returning students, faculty and staff through discussion forums to question and discuss these perspectives in depth;
- Encourage integration of these ideas and perspectives in other aspects of the Edward Waters College experience;
- Foster critical thinking by offering multiple opportunities to examine and reflect upon the reading throughout the year;
- Encourage students to make connections between classroom and out-of-classroom experiences;
- Engage students in discussions surrounding current societal issues.
Anchored around incoming freshmen, the ESRE will look to expand and grow to include students across all years to become involved in classroom discussions, campus events, and community activities based around the Common Book.
One of the annual highlights of the EWC Shared Reading Experience will be a visit by the book’s author, who is invited to speak to the Edward Waters College campus and local community as well as participate in a book-signing and other community events.
All books can be picked-up in the Office of the President or Provost’s Office in the Lee-Cousins Building by faculty and staff beginning Tuesday, September 11, 2018. First-come, first-serve! All freshmen/first-year students will receive a copy during next week’s Convocation Est Ceremony of Matriculation which is held on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. in the Adams-Jenkins Sports & Music Complex.
