Ithaca College

I am pleased to announce to the campus community that President Williams has selected Living Downstream, by the College's Distinguished Visiting Scholar Sandra Steingraber, as our 2004 text for the First Year Reading Initiative.

Living Downstream is an important interdisciplinary contribution to our understanding of the critical relationship between the environment and human health. The choice of this year's book underscores the College's commitment to fostering "an awareness of, appreciation of, and respect for our physical environment" and sharing "the responsibilities of citizenship and service in the global community," as called for in the Institutional Plan.

Steingraber has graciously agreed to speak on the legacy of Rachel Carson as part of the First Year Reading Initiative. This initiative, which was launched for the first time last summer, provides Ithaca College with an important opportunity to create a shared academic experience for incoming students, another important priority of the Institutional Plan.

The goal of this program is to establish at the outset the expectations that accompany membership in an academic community of our caliber. It sends a powerful message that an Ithaca College education entails the liberal arts values of intellectual inquiry and critical thinking, not just a high degree of professional training.

We are asking students to engage in a thoughtful critique of Living Downstream and not simply to digest it. Every book has a perspective. We want students to learn how to identify the author's point of view, understand it, analyze its strengths and weaknesses, and formulate alternative points of view.

The first year summer reading initiative seeks to help build a community of learners who grasp the importance of a liberal education, one in which both the unity and diversity of the human experience are understood and appreciated. In its second year, the summer reading program is becoming another fine tradition at Ithaca College, part of an ongoing process in which we seek to foster "intellect, creativity, and character."

We invite our faculty and staff to serve as discussion leaders for the incoming class on the day after Convocation (the Tuesday before the first day of classes). Please express your interest to Tanya R. Saunders, assistant provost and dean of Interdisciplinary and International Studies, at tsaunders@ithaca.edu. I look forward to joining you in the campus conversation on Living Downstream.

Peter Bardaglio
Provost/VPAA



Contributed by Peter Bardaglio