One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni was CSUN's Freshman Common Reading for 2012-2013
Calendar (Fall 2012)
Sep. 6 (Thursday): Chitra Divakaruni, author of One Amazing Thing, speaks at Convocation: 6 p.m. on the Oviatt Lawn.
Sep. 24 (Monday): "One Amazing Community" formally opens at 6 p.m. in the lobby of Oviatt Library; Q&A with featured community members from 7-9 p.m. in Oviatt's Ferman Presentation Room. Sponsored by Unified We Serve. Library exhibit continues through Oct. 8.
Oct. 4 (Thursday): Zumbathon, Matadome.
Oct. 14 (Sunday):Join Team CSUN for the AIDS Walk. 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Hollywood.
Oct. 27 (Saturday): MEND Super Saturday, Pacoima. (more about MEND)
Oct. 29 (Monday): Fourth Annual CSUN Campus Clothing & Food Drive begins (through Nov. 14).
Nov. 8 (Thursday): Veterans Day Letter Writing Campaign, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., USU.
Nov. 14 (Wedneday): Closing display: CSUN Campus Clothing & Food Drive.
Nov. 28-29 (Wednesday-Thursday): Freshman Celebration
Other campuses reading this book
Sacramento State (read more)In the news
"Public Invited to Join CSUN Freshmen as They Explore ‘One Amazing Thing,’ Author to Welcome Incoming First-Year Students at Convocation." (read more)
In "The Gift of Words," author Susan Straight says, "Ask me to come: I will speak for free and give away books." (read more)
Chronicle of Higher Education story (June 26, 2011) lists CSUN and The Glass Castle
Freshman common reading programs on other campuses
CSUN's Common Reading Archives
2011-2012: The Glass Castle
2010-2011: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
2009-2010: The Soloist
2008-2009: Nickel and Dimed
2007-2008: The Things They Carried
To the entering freshman class of 2012-2013:
CSUN's 2012-2013 Freshman Common Reading is One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni. It tells the stories of nine characters who are thrown together by an earthquake that traps them in the basement office of an Indian embassy somewhere near San Francisco. One thing that makes the book special is the main character, Uma Sinha. While she is as frightened as the others, she is also very observant, and she feels quite certain that--as she says--“Everyone has a story….I don’t believe anyone can go through life without encountering at least one amazing thing.” At Uma’s suggestion, the nine characters begin to take turns sharing their amazing stories, each offering a personal revelation that helps the others combat their fears and pain as they wait for aftershocks, or rescuers, or death.
As a new freshman, you are invited to read the book and to discuss it as part of a campus-wide community of readers. Reflecting about a book in this way places academic engagement—teaching and learning—at the very center of the community that you are about to join. The Common Reading allows us all to think, talk, and learn together across and beyond the boundaries of any single classroom.
Chitra Divakaruni (the author of One Amazing Thing) will be the keynote speaker this fall at Freshman Convocation. Read this book; talk about it with other students; and discuss it with faculty, with staff, with administrators, and even (who knows?) with your family and friends.
Welcome to CSUN!
Links and other resources for One Amazing Thing
Aurora borealis: watch a time lapse video of this astonishing natural light display. For more information about the Northern Lights (and additional videos), see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_borealis
Assignments for faculty using One Amazing Thing
Classroom assignments and discussion topics faculty can use with One Amazing Thing are posted on the faculty workshop page. If you have a new idea for teaching with the book, please email it to me and I'll post it there.
