Florida Gulf Coast University
Tier2-8: Themed Semester or Year

Florida Gulf Coast University's First Year Reading Project introduces incoming students to the expectations of learning at an institution of higher education. All first-year students read a common book during the summer, usually a novel or work of non-fiction, and complete a writing assignment regarding the book. The book is discussed in Composition I classes and in the First Year Humanities Seminar in the fall semester, and sometimes in other classes.

The First Year Reading project engages students in critical thinking and writing skills, preparing them for a rigorous academic experience, and connects them to the campus community so that they are supported in this experience. In this way, students become a part of the community at Florida Gulf Coast University and come prepared for our unique learning experience.

Summer 2010 Reading Project

All incoming first year students at Florida Gulf Coast University will read Susan Cerulean’s Tracking Desire: A Journey after Swallow-tailed Kites in order to explore FGCU's Learning Goal Ecological Perspective. A work of nonfiction, Tracking Desire charts both the natural history and biology of swallow-tailed kites and the author’s own encounters with this spectacular bird.

The summer reading assignment expects students to analyze the issue of ecological perspective in the book, as well as to consider the relationship between what students learn in the book and their own interactions with the natural world. Ultimately students should begin to understand and address the ten General Education Learning Goals in order to begin their own growth and development (these goals are located at http://www.fgcu.edu/General_Education/learninggoals.html).