First-Year Students

The Common Reading Committee is pleased to announce the Fall 2013 Common Reading Experience selection: " Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen," by Christopher McDougall.

A BGSU tradition since 2001, all new first-year students are required to read the book prior to the start of the fall semester and to write a short paper about it.

BRIEF SUMMARY

"Born to Run" provides a fascinating reading experience for runners and non-runners alike, focusing broadly upon a wide range of issues, this overview from the publisher illustrates:

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it … With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. "Born to Run" is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

The committee believes that the book will appeal to a range of interests and disciplines and is hopeful that campus groups will find ways of incorporating the book into students' academic and student life experiences. Programming related to the book will be announced as plans are made.

CHANGES TO THIS FALL'S COMMON READING EXPERIENCE

Two major changes have been made to the way in which this fall's Common Reading Experience will be handled.

• The Bowling Green Community Reads group also has selected "Born to Run" as their fall reading, creating exciting opportunities for BGSU to partner with them on developing programming related to the book.

• Book discussion sessions will not be organized for Opening Weekend this year. Instead, students will be required to submit their papers to their General Studies Writing (GSW) instructor on the first day of class. The papers will be used as ungraded writing samples that will receive feedback from the GSW instructors during individual "get-acquainted" conferences scheduled during the first week or two of the semester. The book also will be used in more formal GSW writing assignments during the term.

FOR INFORMATION OR TO BECOME INVOLVED

The author's Born to Run site provides a compelling Ted Talk as well as information regarding the issues and debates in the book.

For further information regarding the Common Reading Experience or to become involved with "Born to Run" programming, please contact Donna Nelson-Beene, Common Reading Experience chair.