Preface
First-year Reading and Writing Program
Preface is a first-year reading program that introduces students to the joy of reading critically and using academic disciplines and methods to approach the complex issues in our communities, nation, and world. Preface combines guided reading of a common book with special events and discussions, in which students engage questions raised by the book with university, community and national experts. We read, think and talk together in order to see how concentrated, research-based attention to any subject can bring new solutions to light.
First-year students read the Preface text in English 101 and attend related events throughout the fall semester.
While Preface is geared primarily toward first-year students, it offers a calendar of events that are relevant to a wide range of university courses as well as the community. Events are planned in close cooperation with USC Upstate departments and organizations and are free and open to the public.
This fall, first-year writing students will read They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. Preface GoalsThe intent of this series of programs is to help USC Upstate first-year students make connections to each other and to the university and community, practice skills and explore ideas that contribute to success in college, and discuss how a deeper understanding of a shared reading can inform the way we make personal decisions and influence public policy today. |
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Session Title: Recognizing Propaganda and Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War IISpeaker Name: Dr. Matthew Placek, political science Session Time: 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. |
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Session Title: George Takei, Anti-Racism, and Science FictionSpeaker Name: Dr. Peter Caster, English Session Time: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. |
Tuesday September 20, 2022
Session Title: Stop AAPI HateSpeaker Name: Hao Wu, Asian American activist Session Time: 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. |
Tuesday, October 11, 2022
Session Title: Film: To Be TakeiSession Time: 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. |
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
Session Title: Memories of ImprisonmentSpeaker Name: Sam Mihara Session Time: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. |
Thursday, October 20, 2022 - Saturday, October 22, 2022
Session Title: Voices to Hear Staged Reading: A Question of Loyalty by Robert K. Maesaka, Directed by Allen EvansSession Time: October 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. and October 22 at 3:30 p.m. |
Thursday October 27, 2022
Session Title: Activism and Social MediaSpeaker Name: Dr. Allison Ellis, political science Session Time: 10:50 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. |
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Session Title: Does Work Make One Free?: Japanese Internees and Agricultural LaborSpeaker Name: Dr. Carmen Harris, history Session Time: 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. |
Monday, November 14, 2022
Session Title: From Exclusion to Becoming the Model: The Complicated Identity Construction of Indian Immigrants in the USSpeaker Name: Dr. Renu Pariyadath, communication studies Session Time: 2:30 - 3:50 p.m. |
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Session Title: Alumni Panel: Immigrant Contributions to US Science and TechnologySpeaker Names: Dr. Chris Bender, chemistry, and Dr. Alex Lorenz, German Studies Session Time: 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. |