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A great book lingers far beyond the last page.
And so there is no last word.
That's one of the lessons of Confederates in the Attic, the assignment for the
2000 Carolina Summer Reading Program. Faculty and staff volunteers led
discussions about the book with small groups of incoming students Aug. 21. But
the talk has gone beyond those two-hour sessions, and that's just what the
program's organizers had hoped.
"It has stirred conversation throughout the campus community," said Cynthia
Wolf Johnson, associate vice chancellor for student learning. "People are
talking about it in lots of different places."
Confederates, a 1998 national bestseller by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony
Horwitz, is a provocative exploration of the Civil War and its lingering social
effects. Campus discussions of the text have carried on in residence hall
lounges and around dining hall tables.
The post-Aug. 21 buzz was so loud that it perked up the ears of students and
employees who hadn't read Confederates.
"Everybody wants to know what everybody else is talking about," Wolf Johnson
said.
Confederates has also found its way into formal campus settings. It's being
used in English 11 and 12 -- freshman composition -- as well as Comm 09, a
course required for students who place out of composition. And the book is a
key text in "Nations and Identities," a first-year seminar taught by History
Professor Sarah Shields.
"The fact that the reading is being integrated into academic courses is
absolutely ideal," Wolf Johnson said. "We would love to have students see the
value of tying learning outside the classroom with learning inside the
classroom."
Paul Marchbanks, a teaching assistant in the English department, said the book
has been an effective text to show how readers should keep an author's intended
audience in mind when they interpret the work.
"For whom did Horwitz create this book, and how does this intended audience
shape what he includes and omits, foregrounds and occludes?" Marchbanks said.
"Whether creating an advertisement, biology paper, fiction piece or `factual'
narrative, an author chooses certain perspectives, events and characters and
neglects others."
In Michael Petit's Comm 09 class, students made speeches on Confederates
intended to argue a point of view and took questions from classmates
afterward.
"Confederates is a particularly good choice because of its controversial
nature," said Petit, who served on the committee that selected the summer
reading assignment. "The fact that some groups formally protested UNC's
selection of the book was an excellent opportunity for students to see how
argument is central to the academic process."
Ajaree Whaley, a freshman in Petit's class, said she's glad that the
discussions started in the Summer Reading Program have been carried on in a
more traditional academic setting.
"I think it's good because it's putting the program into practice," she said.
"At first, I thought `What else is there (after the Aug. 21 sessions)?'"
Whaley said that the Comm 09 discussions have benefited from the dynamic that
develops with any class over time -- students see each other regularly and
therefore feel more comfortable engaging classmates in conversation.
That ease was apparent at a Sept. 19 meeting of Whaley's class. One white
student asked a black student if any of her African-American friends practiced
reverse racism. In his speech, another student argued that white males now
suffer most from discrimination.
While the Summer Reading Program succeeded in its role as a springboard for
such exchanges, the program enjoyed success on Aug. 21, too.
More than half of freshmen and almost 20 percent of transfer students took part
in the sessions, compared to 28 percent and 5 percent last year, respectively.
A hundred and twenty-eight groups met around campus versus 84 in 1999. Those
groups averaged 16 students this year; 12 last year.
Wolf Johnson said improved logistics helped push the numbers higher. Students
were notified about the assignment earlier in the year, and they received
personalized Summer Reading Program folders that included specifics on their
discussion locations and times.
The program was also required this year. And though students who failed to show
up weren't penalized directly, their academic records may have suffered because
the assignment came up at some regular classes. In English, for example, some
instructors' first-day agendas included a quiz on Confederates.
And these students also lost out in a less tangible way, Wolf Johnson said.
"They're just being left out of the conversation their classmates are having,"
she said.
Wolf Johnson said that 100 percent participation in the Summer Reading
Program is unrealistic, but she expects the numbers to keep climbing as
incoming students see the program more and more as what's expected of them.
"We're continuing to transform the culture," she said.
Wolf Johnson said she was grateful for all the help that made the program a
success. She thanked the discussion leaders as well as Carolyn Kotlas, an
Academic Technology and Networks staffer who manages the program's web site;
Design Services, which designed the program's folder for free; Erica Eisdorfer,
Bull's Head Bookshop manager who helped get copies of Confederates at a
10 percent discount; and Edith Thornton, an administrative assistant in Student
Affairs who coordinated program logistics.
Re-enactor's Oct. 19 visit among other reading notes
* Rob Hodges, a Civil War re-enactor featured on the cover of
Confederates in the Attic, will speak on campus Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in 111
Carroll Hall. His visit is co-sponsored by the Summer Reading Program and the
Center for the Study of the American South.
* Faculty and staff who want to express interest in serving on next year's
book selection committee should e-mail read@unc.edu by Oct. 11.
* Faculty and staff who would like to suggest a book for next year's reading
may do so by going to http://www.unc.edu/srp by Oct. 20.
2000 Summer Reading Program discussion leaders
Frank Abbott, Military Science
Kimberly Abels, College of Arts & Sciences
Mindy Douglas Adams, Presbyterian Campus Ministry
Sue Westcott Alessandri, Journalism
Don Appiarius, Dean of Students
Bruce Baker, History
Jan Bardsley, Asian Studies
Ann-Marie Berti, Law Library
Deb Bialeschki, Leisure Studies and
Rec Admin.
Alice Blackwell, English
Karen Blansfield, Dramatic Art
Joe Boehman, Housing
Melissa Bostrom, English
Maryanne Boundy, Environment Sciences&English
Chimi Boyd, Campus Y
Philip Boyle, Institute of Government
Priscilla Bratcher, Development
Dean Bresciani, OVC-Student Affairs
John Brodeur, Carolina Leadership Development
Anne Bryan, Disability Services
Ross Bryan, Education
Lisa Cacciapaglia, Housing
Al Calarco, Housing
Linda Carl, Provost Office
George Bill Cloud, Journalism
Anne McKay Coble, Dramatic Art
Peter Coclanis, History
Rosalind Coleman, Nutrition
Patrick Conway, Economics
Tina CoyneSmith, School of Dentistry
Altha Cravey, Geography
Lisa Croucher, Academic Technology & Networking
Jon Curtis, Carolina Union
Denise Dalton, Microbiology & Immunology
Darrah Degnan, retired
Spenser Downing, General College
David Eckerman, Psychology
Richard Edwards, Provost
Catherine Elkins, Carolina Population Center
Lynn Ellison, Housing
Jon Engel, Physics-Astronomy
Sue Estroff, Social Medicine
Melissa Exum, Dean of Students
Paul Ferguson, Communication Studies
Susan Flinspach, Institute of Government
Beverly Foster, School of Nursing
Jerrid Freeman, Housing
Lynne Fuller, Institute of Government
Jane Gabin, Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Chris Galloway, Psychology
Darryl Gless, English
Glen Gottfried, Sheps Center for Health Services
Amanda Granrud, Communication Studies
Kathleen Gray, Environmental Sciences
Kate Hagopian, Comparative Literature
Kayla Hamilton, Housing
John Hemingway, Leisure Studies and
Rec Admin.
Jennifer Hemingway, Alumni Assoc. Office
Mary Beth Hernandez, Carolina Environmental Program
Paula Hinton, Academic Affairs Library
Herman Huang, Highway Safety Research Center
Sarah Hutchison, Comparative Literature
Stephen Jenks, Alumni
Alison Jesse, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Audreye Johnson, Social Work
Gregory Kable, Dramatic Art
Joy Kasson, American Studies
Jane Kaufman, School of Nursing
Donna Kaye, UNC Hospitals
Susan Keith, Journalism
Meghan Kelley-Gosk, Human Resources
Sue Kitchen, OVC-Student Affairs
Anne Klinefelter, Law
Meg Lanchantin, Exercise & Sport Science
Thomas Lehman, Environment Sciences&English
James Leloudis, History
Barry Lentz, Biochemistry
Charlotte Lentz, Biochemistry
Robert Locke, International Center
Kathryn Lofton, Religious Studies
Stephanie Lombardo, Human Resources/ Tar Heel Temps
Joe Lowman, Psychology
Howard Machtinger, Education
Paul Marchbanks, English
Ashley Mattison, School of Pharmacy
Eileen McGrath, Printing and Duplicating
Jennifer McLamb, Housing
David McNelis, Carolina Environmental Program
Laurie Mesibov, Institute of Government
Sam Middleton, Journalism
Penney Mizell, Housing
James Moeser, Chancellor's Office
Susan Moeser, Chancellor's Office
Catherine Moga, Geography
Chris Moody, Housing
Chris Moseley, Mathematics
Aaron Nelson, University Relations
Diana O'Connor, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Margaret O'Connor, English
Margaret O'Shaughnessey, English
Risa Palm, Arts & Sciences
Carol Pardun, Journalism
David Parker, Technology Development
Tony Patterson, Carolina Union Activities Board
Christopher Payne, Housing
Deborah Pedersen, School of Education
Nandra Perry, English
Michael Petit, English
Joe Porter, History
Jenne Powers, Slavic Languages
Paul Quigley, History
Linda Rainey,
General Alumni Association
Kenneth Reckford, Classics
Rupa Redding-Lallinger, Pediatrics
Jacqueline Resnick, School of Public Health
Jan Rivero, Methodist Campus Minister
Doug Robertson, Medicine
Susan Rogers, Chemistry
Sage Rountree, English
Timothy Sanford, Office of Provost Acad. Affairs
Debi Schledorn, Davis Library
Stefanie Schmechel, Communication Studies
Joel Schwartz, Political Science
Judith Scott, Human Resources
Jerome Seaton, Asian Studies
Adam Seipp, History
Darlene Sekerak, Division of Physical Therapy
Sarah Shields, History
Kathy Sikes, School of Education
Katie Smith, Undergraduate Admissions
Matthew Spangler, Communication Studies
Maria Stalnaker, English
Rosemarie Stremlau, History
Margi Strickland, Undergraduate Admissions
Dan Thornton, Germanic Languages
Robert Tinkler, History
Mary Tippens, Family Support Network
of NC
Kara VanDam, Linguistics
David Walbert, History
Kathryn Walbert, History
Thomas Warburton, Music
Jim Ward, Botanical Garden
Harry Watson, History
Molly Weston, Frank Porter Graham Child Dev. Ctr
Scott Windham, Comparative Literature
Elizabeth Wright, English
Nadia Yaqub, Asian Studies
Marilyn Yarbrough, School of Law
Kyle York, Office of University Development
Leo Zonn, Geography
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