When incoming freshmen arrive at MSU in the fall, for their first few days, officials in the City of East Lansing and the university hope they have something in common other than their class status: Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein."
"We are encouraging all first-year students to have read Frankenstein before they come in the fall," said June Youatt, assistant provost for undergraduate education at MSU. "This is going to give students a common experience. We'd be delighted if one student asked another, 'What did you think about the book we read?'"
Although this is the first time MSU has required a reading for students before they enter the university, this is the second annual "One Book, One Community" program. The program is a collaboration between East Lansing and the university intended to bring a work of literature to the community through several programs.
In 2002, the program used book readings, panel discussions and special dinners in the residence halls to encourage reading.
"Last year, we read 'Fahrenheit 451,' and when we got done with it, we thought it had gone very successfully," said Judith Taran, director of communication for the City of East Lansing. "The most important thing for having a program like that is it brings the city and the university together. When people do that, age barriers and personal point of view drift away, and all that's left is the common denominator of people who love to read."
Taran said they are planning a showing of the film "Frankenstein" from the early '30s, as well as panels to discuss the issues that surface in the book and speakers.
"It does raise issues when you think about medicine today and experimentation and when you think about cloning and stem-cell research," she said. "What are the boundaries?"
The criteria for choosing the novel, Taran said, was that it needed to be relatively short, a classic work of literature and it needed to raise some larger important issues that society is confronting.
The university and the city agreed to use the novel in the program, Taran said.
"Everybody agreed that it was a smashing idea," she said.
The program has prompted some professors to use the novel in class, as well.
Tess Tavormina, a professor of English and the director of Interdisciplinary Programs in Health and Humanities, said she plans to use the novel in her literature and medicine class.
"Frankenstein is going to be the starting point of the course because it shows how we respond to death in way of medical science," Tavormina said. "There's a lot of issues in how we use medical science and how we use our control and lack of control with death."
Tavormina said bringing the community together with the university is positive to both sides.
"It's tremendous whenever we can bring classroom learning in connection with the rest of the world."
