 Ashley Zurich and Christine Botham work up a poster for local libraries and high schools. |
The event will kick off with an exhibit opening and discussion at Dunkirk High School on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 8:50 a.m. This year’s featured Big Read selection is Harper Lee’s classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
The exhibits will be showcased throughout the local community including the Dunkirk and Fredonia High School Libraries, SUNY Fredonia’s Reed Library, and 13 other regional public libraries. Sixteen students are participating in the event under the direction of English Professor Emily VanDette and Reed Librarian Dawn Eckenrode.
The exhibits are part of a college community service activity that allows students to apply their research and critical thinking skills in an effort to broaden the community’s engagement with literature. As such, the project creatively allows students to showcase their talent while simultaneously making a positive impact on the community and its members.
“This project provides a special opportunity for our students to conduct research and apply their findings in a relevant, real-world setting,” said Dr. VanDette. “Not only are they uncovering images, events and narratives that shed light on the historical contexts of this monumental American novel, but they’re critically evaluating and creatively presenting those findings in order to encourage their target audiences to become engaged in a meaningful way. Together with the supportive collaboration we’ve had with Reed Library, it’s been a uniquely rich educational experience.”
The NEA Big Read program is designed to inspire people across the nation to pick up a book and begin reading, and then engage in discussion afterward. It also encourages communities to view reading as both a pleasurable and entertaining pastime.
SUNY Fredonia’s English Department helps students to develop their abilities in interpretation, communication, reading, and writing. It fosters their understanding and respect for both individual and cultural commonalities and differences. In addition, it helps future English teachers develop the ideas and practices that will make them effective in the classrooms of an ever-increasingly complex and diverse society.
