Undergraduate Study
Reading as Inquiry
The Department of Humanities and First-year Programs/ COMPASS partner each summer to prepare incoming freshman for college by presenting them with a college-level reading. A new summer reading is chosen each year by a committee of students, faculty, and staff members. All first-year students are expected to have read the book before arriving at Michigan Tech. During orientation, students are led in guided discussion of the reading, offered the opportunity to discuss the book with the book's author, where possible, and are involved in additional activities during orientation that focus on the reading, as well.
Previous summers, incoming students have been introduced to sophisticated literature—both classic and contemporary—which ask them, for example, to rethink the relationship between technology, innovation, and humanism (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein), to reimagine the nature of identity in a radically changing mediascape (M.T. Anderson's Feed), to learn of the true story of the Lost Boys' struggle to survive growing up as refugees during the Sudanese Civil War (Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak's biographical They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The true story of three Lost Boys from Sudan).
This year, all first-year students will be reading Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands by Susan Carol McCarthy. This historical novel, set in 1950s Florida depicts senseless murders and the extraordinary courage it takes to overcome them. It is a compelling, poignant, powerful read filled with drama and unforgettable characters. To learn more about this book and its author visit the book’s website at susancarolmccarthy.com.
For more information, please see the Reading As Inquiry website. You may also contact:
Department of Humanities
Dr. Robert Johnson
Phone: (906) 487-3236
eMail: rrjohnso @ mtu.edu
Student Life
Beth Wagner
Phone: (906) 487-2687
eMail: blwagner @ mtu.edu