Common Intellectual Experience launched as a pilot program
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CHADRON – A pilot project is underway this fall to help Chadron State College freshmen build community. The Common Intellectual Experience is intended to help freshmen acclimate to academic life, examine important social issues, set academic expectations and foster critical thinking, according to Common Intellectual Experience committee co-chair Dr. Kathleen Kirsch.
“March: Book One,” a graphic novel written by civil rights leader and congressman John Lewis, along with Andrew Aydin and including illustrations by Nate Powell is the inaugural book for the Common Reading Experience. Kirsch said a graphic novel was selected because of its appeal and ability to engage students in a different way than a typical textbook.
The official launch of the Common Intellectual Experience will be during the campus’ commemoration of Constitution Day Tuesday. Freshmen who attend one of the Common Intellectual Experience events will receive a free copy of “March: Book One,” and earn a Merit Pages badge, according to Kirsch.
“It’s exciting that several faculty are using it in their courses. We can all show students how we approach the book from different disciplines,” Kirsch said. “I anticipate it will be more integrated into the curriculum as we move forward.”
About 100 students enrolled in three courses, The Academic Life (EDUC 121) taught by Kirsch and Colleen Margetts, Introduction to College Writing (ENG 111) and Rhetoric and Writing (ENG 135) taught by Marcus Jones, are part of the Common Intellectual Experience pilot.
Additional co-curricular resources available to students reading “March: Book One,” include the “I Am A Man” Virtual Reality app in the eXtended Reality Room in the King Library. It was created by Dr. Derek Ham at North Carolina State’s College of Design. According to Ham’s website, “I Am A Man” is an interactive virtual reality experience set in the Civil Rights Movement. Using historical film and photographs, along with voice narrations of Civil Rights participants, the project is a new type of interactive-documentary experience.
Other events that will explore “March: Book One” through music, art, and film are tentatively scheduled for October and November. Additional details will be announced once information is finalized.
Students, faculty or staff who are interested in participating with the Common Intellectual Experience may volunteer by contacting Kirsch at kkirsch@csc.edu.
Category: Campus News, Student Services