Letter to FYEX Parents
Dear Shepherd Parent,
Your son or daughter has been given a free copy of Persepolis, the Shepherd University Common Reading for academic year 2008-2009. All first-year students are encouraged to read this book before the start of the fall semester. We hope that you will also take the opportunity to read the book. Copies are available for sale from the Shepherd University Bookstore, the local Four Seasons Bookstore, and online. The Common Reading Program encourages all Shepherd students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community to share in the experience of reading and discussing a common text. By reading the book and discussing the themes and issues in the book, you and your son or daughter will be able to become jointly involved in this shared experience. It will be a subject of conversation that can transcend difficult classes, roommate issues, money matters, and many other typical first-year student/parent concerns.
We are planning a variety of events to coincide with this year’s program from showing the major motion picture version of Persepolis, to a guest lecture series; a trip to the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, D.C., a themed Persian dinner in the Dining Hall, a santur music concert and more! The book will be incorporated into many of your son or daughter’s classes throughout the year as a required reading and will be discussed in a variety of classes.
Shepherd University is a liberal arts institution and as such, aims to graduate critical and global thinkers and educated decision makers. The Common Reading Program brings those values to students immediately upon their arrival and will be reinforced in numerous ways throughout their educational journey at Shepherd.
Listed below are some key topics the book addresses, useful for initiating a very interesting discourse:
- War
- History and culture of Iran Fundamentalist Islamic culture
-
Women’s place before, during and after the revolution
- Male and female roles in Iran
- Graphic novels
- Home life vs. public life in Iran
- A child’s view of emperors and dethroned emperors
- State sanctioned torture
- Heroes
- Political repression
- Coming of age
- Westernizing of a country
- The role of oil in the Middle East and Iran
- Iranian economy
- Islamic revolution
- The veil
- Social classes
- Forgiveness
- What it means to be Muslim
- British and American colonialism
For more information about how Persepolis was chosen and additional information related to the book, please see other links on this website.
If you have any questions regarding the Common Reading, please contact me at 304-876-5396.
Judi McIntyre, Director
First-Year Experience Program
Shepherd University