Students dive into reading circles
How would you like to be ‘Mack’ and have conversations with the Holy Trinity in a shack in the woods? Or stand on a train platform in Wisconsin with Ralph Truitt and await the arrival of your Mail-Order bride?
Reading Circles have allowed students to dive into some delicious books, even though their feet are planted firmly on the ground at Methodist University.
This spring, Methodist University offered five different reading circles to students: love stories, mysteries, Christian fiction, urban fantasy, and sports. These circles are designed to help promote a culture of reading, in accordance with Methodist University’s Quality Enhancement Plan. Each reading circle encourages students to read literature outside their required classroom assignments. The circles also stimulate conversations to help students better understand the communities in which they live.
The Christian fiction reading circle is just one of the five circles offered to students this semester. Professor Joan Bitterman has led her students in discussions about different aspects of Christianity through books, such as “The Shack” and “Safely Home.”
“The conversations that stem from our reading material are very insightful to Christianity and help me further develop my own opinions about what I believe,” said Kaitlyn Leger, a member of the Christian Fiction reading circle.
Leger also said that she thinks the reading circles have done their job and helped her expand her reading interests.
In the love stories reading circle, students have focused romantic literature, rather than faith-based literature. With love stories like “A Reliable Wife” and “Secrets to Happiness,” the love stories reading circle has discussed the definition of love, how it feels to be in love, and what a relationship really is.
“I used to love reading as a kid,” explains Andriika Clark, freshman. “My reading circle has renewed the love I once had as a child.”
Clark also said that it’s interesting to see the different perspectives guys and girls have on relationships and love.
Both Clark and Leger agree that the reading circles are a good addition to Methodist University’s class schedule, but believe that the circles should count as more than one credit hour.
“You do so much reading outside of class for so little credit,” said Leger. “I think that students should get more than one credit hour because they have to put in so much time into the stories.”
Next fall, more than a dozen reading circles, with topics ranging from sports personalities to weird science fiction, are available for students to take. For more information on Methodist’s Quality Enhancement Plan and reading circles, students should visit http://www.methodist.edu/academics/qep.shtml.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|