VANCOUVER–This fall’s freshmen at Washington State University Vancouver will be expected to have already finished some required reading the first day they show up for classes.
“Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take it Back,” by Jane Holtz Kay, is this year’s New Student Reading Project for General Education 101, required of all students at WSU Vancouver. Students receive the book free of charge during summer orientation sessions.
A committee of WSU Vancouver faculty and staff chose this book to represent the university’s General Education theme of “Global Change in a Local Context.”
“This book is a good example of our multi-disciplinary approach to change in every aspect of life, and how we need to address that in all of our campus programs,” said Linda Frederiksen, chair of the WSU Vancouver New Student Reading Project committee.
When the first classes start Aug. 20, students are being asked to show up ready to discuss several questions about the book:
What opportunities does having a car provide? What limitations does having a car impose? “Urban planners do not plan. They follow along behind the parade of those who do–the land developers.” Do you agree with this assertion? Why or why not? What do the terms “car-free” and “car-bound”
mean to you? Do you think it would be possible to live for 100 days without riding in or driving a car? Define “Three Car Culture” and “Exit Ramp Architecture.”
