This year's incoming first-years received their first assignment even before they came to campus. How many of them actually completed it, however, is a different story.
"Philadelphia Fire," by Professor of Africana Studies John Edgar Wideman, was intended to give context to Wideman's speech to first-years during orientation.
"Fire" examines the Philadelphia police's 1985 firebombing of a house occupied by an Afro-centric cult named Move. The book, which follows a man whose mission is to find the sole survivor of the bombing, won the American Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction.
Through the years, Class Meeting III at orientation has revolved around the issue of diversity, but this was the first time a book was assigned to the incoming class, said Dean of the College Paul Armstrong.
The committee responsible for the selection of the book was comprised of Armstrong, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene and Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity Brenda Allen.
The reading was chosen to "help (students) begin thinking seriously and deeply about the values, the challenges and the problems of diversity," Armstrong said during the meeting.
In the brochure that described the meeting, students were warned that they might "on occasion feel disoriented by the pastiche of voices, times, and places in the book," but that the structure of the novel "reflects (Wideman's) desire to find a narrative form that conveys the lived reality of contemporary African Americans."
In the beginning of his lecture, Wideman asked for a show of hands to find out how many had taken a look at the novel and how many had actually finished it. "One-fourth to one-third of the students read all of the book or a significant portion, which is pretty good," said Armstrong. "I was especially pleased by the question-and-answer period after Professor Wideman's lecture because it was a sign that students were engaged in the issues being discussed," he added.
Wideman's speech was followed by small group discussions about the novel led by residential peer leaders.
The effectiveness of the reading assignment and the lecture will be evaluated through an online survey to be sent to all first-years around next week, according to Kisa Takesue, associate dean for student life.
"We will plan next year's orientation based on these evaluations, and we will also be talking to the resident peer leaders who led the group discussions to hear their reactions," Armstrong said.
Many students who read the book said they found it confusing at times, and there were mixed opinions concerning the structure of the novel.
John Dahdah '09 read the book in its entirety and enjoyed it. As a Philadelphia native who grew up in the wake of the bombing, Dahdah was interested in learning more about the circumstances surrounding the event. "It was one of those things that we didn't talk about too much when we were growing up," he said.
"I had a hard time getting through the middle of the novel because the change of characters was hard to follow, and I didn't grasp the entire book until Wideman's lecture," he added. Overall, however, Dahdah thought that the book was good and said it was "one of those books that you don't understand when read for face value."
Molly Coyne '09 admitted that the novel was "confusing" and that it was "hard to keep track of what was going on" because of the nonlinear manner in which the novel was written. "For a summer reading book, they could have picked something more accessible," she said.
Tanya Khan '09 purchased the novel but did not read it. "I tried to skim through it, but it didn't capture my interest," she said. Khan heard a number of negative responses from others concerning the book as well, and she did not attend Class Meeting III because "there was no point in going if I hadn't read the book."
Carly Sieff '09 was not able to read the book because she was notified about the reading right before she was headed for vacation. But Sieff attended the lecture and enjoyed it, and she "felt that it gave a good overview of (Wideman's) ideas."
Although many students were troubled by the confusing nature of the book, Armstrong said, "I would rather have students read a difficult text that they find challenging than one they dismiss because it is too easy."
