The Office of General Education is now accepting nominations for the 2010-2011 First Year Seminar Common Book. As you know, each year at Belmont all entering students read a book in common as part of their First Year Seminar experience. Since 2004, students have read a variety of books that fall under the broad theme of FYS, “Ways of Knowing.” Among these have been titles such as:

Eva Hoffman, After Such Knowledge
Yann Martel, Life of Pi
Anne Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (the common book for the current academic year)

Beginning last year, the FYS Common Book, while focused on the theme “Ways of Knowing,” also has been connected to the annual theme of our campus-wide conversation, Belmont Questions. This year’s common book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, fits well with the campus theme, “A Paradise Lost?”

The Belmont Questions theme for 2010-2011 will be “Invention and Creativity.” Click here to download a brief description that should yield for you, well, Invention and Creativity! Much more information and conversation regarding next year’s theme will take place later this year.

In the meantime, however, we are ready to begin the selection process for the 2010-2011 common book. We ask that your nominations fit the “Ways of Knowing” theme of FYS and also, preferably, tie in to the campus theme of “Invention and Creativity.” Click here to download nomination form.

All members of the Belmont community—faculty, staff and students—are encouraged to submit nominations for the FYS common book. Your nominations are very important, as we view the selection of a common book each year as very much a campus-wide effort.

The deadline for submitting nominations is Wed., Oct. 21. You should submit your nominations electronically to Jennifer Wells, in the Office of the Provost: jennifer.wells@belmont.edu.

The FYS common book selection committee will then begin reviewing nominations with the goal of announcing a decision in January. Faculty members, please encourage your students to participate in the process.