The First-Year Reading Experience at the University of South Carolina is a half-day event held each fall before the start of classes. The event is planned for the Monday before classes begin, during the university's Welcome Week. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the program introduces students to academic life at the University of South Carolina. By bringing students together, before the first day of classes, to discuss a common reading, the university demonstrates that academics are the top priority at the University of South Carolina.

The 16th Annual First-Year Reading Experience will be held on Monday, August 17, 2009. Throughout the summer, students will read The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Students are provided with a reader’s guide to aid them in preparing for a faculty led small group discussion about the text as well as assist them in identifying the key themes of the text. On the morning of the event, all first-year students will gather at the Carolina Coliseum at 8:30am to hear reflections of the literary value and evolution of the graphic novel genre by Dr. Qiana J. Whitted, Assistant Professor in the department of English Language and Literature. Professor Whitted will be followed by a keynote address from Dr. Waleed El Ansary, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. Following the keynote session, students will participate in faculty led, small group discussions about the text.

Each year, graphic design students from the ARTS 346 course Series Development and Practice create a poster that they believe portrays the essence of the First-Year Reading Experience selection. The image above was selected as the marketing image for the 2009 event. Click here to see the participating students present their submissions.

Past First-Year Reading Experience books include:

1994 The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy
1995 Rich in Love by Josephine Humphreys
1996 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1997 The Bear by William Faulkner
1998 Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore
1999 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
2000 The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
2001 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2002 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
2003 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
2004 Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital
2005 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
2006 Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
2007 When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
2008 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

For more information about the First-Year Reading Experience contact Jennifer Latino, Assistant Director of University 101, at (803) 777-6029 or latino@mailbox.sc.edu.