What
is the Common Reading Experience?
Welcome
to the Common Reading Experience (CRE) of the University of Virginia School of
Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Our students and faculty join happily
every spring in reviewing books on engineering life experiences and interactions
of technology and society.
Our Criteria:
· Direct
experience of engineering practice/profession
· Lively/engaging reading
(highly readable, not too long)
· Literary and/or well-written
·
Multiple themes for discussion (technologies, ethics, teamwork,
workplace, unusual
career paths)
· Recent publication and/or recent interest
·
A bridge between students and faculty
· Available in paperback edition
·
Energizing and upbeat
· Amenability to a follow-on program (author visit,
etc.)
The 2009 Common Reading Experience selection is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. In this book, Malcolm Gladwell investigates how significant shifts in our culture are created a small numbers of people who start behaving differently. Their behavior ripples through society until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached; this tipping point then changes the world. Though intriguing snippets summarizing research on topics such as conversational patterns, infants' crib talk, judging other people's character, cheating habits in schoolchildren, memory sharing among families or couples, and the dehumanizing effects of prisons, Gladwell shows how this idea can explain culture phenomena such as the drop in violent crime in New York, the rebirth of Hush Puppies suede shoes as a suburban mall favorite, and the efficiency of small work units.
Incoming students should come prepared to discuss the book with other incoming students and a SEAS faculty member on Monday, August 24-the day before fall classes start-from 12:00-1:30pm. You will be provided with details regarding the meeting location when you arrive in August. Your participation in the CRE is required and fall courses may have assignments based on the book. The book can be purchased online, at a local bookstore, or from the University Bookstore or you can borrow the book from the library.
The CRE assignment list is available here.
We selected the following books for the CRE in recent
years:
2008 America 1908 by Jim Rasenbergerto
2007 Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
2006 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2005 The Rocket Boys by Homer Hickham, Jr.
2004 The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People
Live With Technology by Kim Vicente
2003 Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets
of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace by Ejovi Nuwere
2002 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
2001 Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
2000 Managing Martians by Donna Shirley
1999 Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by
Gary Kinder
1998 Airframe by Michael Crichton
1997 A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
1996 Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
1995 A Scientist in the City by James Trefil
1994 The Control of Nature by John McPhee
1993 The Final Forrest by William Dietrich
and The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett
Hardin
Prior to the SEAS CRE, the University selected the following
books for faculty-student discussions:
1990 Siddhartha by
Herman Hesse
1989 All the Kings Men by Robert Penn
Warren
1988 Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody
Please send us your suggestions for future CRE
selections to pr6e@virginia.edu.
The 2008 CRE Committee Members:
Prof. Stephanie Guerlain, Systems and Information Engineering
Prof. Archie L. Holmes Jr., Electrical Engineering
Prof. John O'Connell, Chemical Engineering
Prof. Jason Papin, Biomedical Engineering
Prof. Petra Reinke, Materials Science and Engineering
Fred O’Bryant, SEAS Librarian
