“I chose Mortenson’s newest book because it is inspiring and current,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick Bayly.
“As they use the text in classes and related activities this fall, every freshman will learn a great deal about the issues in the book, as well as about themselves, society and, importantly, about how a research university addresses global problems,” he said.
The book’s full title, “Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” continues the story of Montana humanitarian campaigner Mortenson’s efforts to raise money to build schools for girls in those Asian countries.
The 2006 best-selling “Three Cups of Tea” traces Mortenson’s transition from a mountain climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty, building relationships, and empowering communities through education projects in Taliban territory. He did this by co-founding the Central Asia Institute.
Located in Bozeman, the CAI to date has raised money to build more than 131 schools in the most remote areas of the countries, educating more than 58,000 students. The inspiring book has been used in hundreds of communities and universities, and several branches of the U.S. military, as a common read.
“Stones into Schools” was published in December 2009 and picks up where the first book leaves off in late 2003. This book, told in first person, describes Kirghiz horsemen from Afghanistan securing a promise from Mortenson to build a school in an isolated town. It details his team’s dogged CAI fundraising efforts, the effects on Pakistani schools of an earthquake there, his work to help formulate new strategic plans as a road map to peace, and the new school in Kirghiz.
“We are excited to start working with the faculty and staff who teach and otherwise support and provide students’ first-year experience, said Karen Weathermon, co-director of the program and director of WSU Learning Communities/Freshman Focus.
“This book offers so many programming opportunities in so many disciplines, and we welcome hearing ideas from across the university on how the book can be used within and beyond the classrooms,” she said.
The 2010-11 academic year marks the fourth year of the Common Reading Program in Pullman. In 2007, freshmen read “Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It.” In 2008, new students used “Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” in their classes. In 2009-10, freshmen read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.”
Each year, the author of the book visited campus to meet with students and present a lecture. Faculty and staff at WSU, and special guests, made dozens of evening presentations on their research or work on topics related to that year’s book.
Residence hall and WSU Libraries staff members partnered with teachers to form teams that helped students get the most out of each book.
“A common reading helps students feel they are a part of the WSU community, understand what it means to be educated at our research university, and learn to think critically and communicate with others around a common body of knowledge,” said Mary F. Wack, vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of the University College.
Follow news and plans at http://commonreading.wsu.edu.