Common reading book whets appetite for learning

By Communications staff, Washington State University

WSU Pullman has selected a common reading book for more than 3,000 freshmen this fall that is intended to whet students’ appetites for what a top-tier research university can offer.

The multi-award-winning “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” takes on the question, “What’s for dinner?”  
 
Following 21st century food chains – the industrial, organic, hunted and gathered – it explores how the taste for particular foods and flavors reflects evolutionary inheritance. It leads the reader to contemplate the political, economic, psychological and moral implications of what is consumed.
 
Author Michael Pollan is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and the Knight professor of science and environmental journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.
 
“ ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ had multiple nominations from faculty across several disciplines, and ultimately it was also the top choice of this year’s common reading committee,” said Karen Weathermon, director of WSU Learning Communities and Freshman Focus, a unit of the Office of Undergraduate Education. The group met many times, she said, to consider a number of books.  
 
In addition to “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” the other finalists for the third annual common reading book were “The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design and a School Board in Dover, Pa.,” by Gordy Slack; “Three Cups of Tea,” by Greg Mortenson; and “Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming,” by Bjorn Lomborg.
 
“One of the goals of the common reading program is to provide a single source of topics shared by all freshmen in their classes,” said Susan Poch, associate vice president, Office of Student Achievement. 
 
“Ultimately, the committee found the vast range of subjects raised in ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ to be not only fascinating but also applicable to research and programs here at WSU. The topics will lead to vibrant local programming, as we were able to have for this year’s freshmen.”

In her nomination of “Omnivore’s Dilemma,” Patricia Freitag Ericsson, assistant professor in English, said, “Although it is not entirely a book about sustainability, it certainly brings up questions about the sustainability of our food system, asks important questions about the way we eat, and in the end offers no ‘pat’ answers. The lack of such answers makes this an excellent book for discussion.”

Nominator Julie Kmec, assistant professor in sociology, said, “It stops you in your tracks and makes you think about what you eat and where it comes from. It educates people on why their food may taste/cost as it does. I think freshmen need to think about these issues as it will be their generation that has to fix many of the problems noted in the book.”

As in previous years, copies of the book will be given to freshmen as they attend summer Alive! orientation sessions. Professors will be invited to incorporate the book and its topics into their fall courses for first-year students. 
 
Residence hall and WSU Libraries personnel will include book subjects into their programming. In the common reading’s first and second years, programming was in fall semester only; details of this year’s programming are still under discussion.

The common reading is an interdisciplinary program that links student affairs and academic affairs offices at the university. Find more online at commonreading.wsu.edu.

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