Citizen: An American Lyricby Claudia Rankine

A Reader’s Guide

The First Year Reading ProgramSelection

for the Class of 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Blackboard Assignment

Reflections from a Senior

Contest Guidelines

Save the Date

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Authored by the First Year Reading Program Photography by WU Photographic Services

WELCOME

Welcome to the First Year Reading Program!

This year, Washington University in St. Louis selected Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine, as the common reading for the Class of 2019. During Bear Beginnings: New Student Fall Orientation, you will participate in a class-wide discussion of Citizen on Friday, August 21st from 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM. These discussions will take place in small groups composed of members of your residential floor communities and led by a Wash U faculty member. Additional details about your discussion including when and where you will meet will be provided to you when you arrive on campus in August.

In this remarkable and timely work, acclaimed author and Pomona College professor, Claudia Rankine, uses poetry, essay, cultural criticism and visual media to explore what it means to be an American citizen in a “post-racial” society. This bold new book recounts mounting racial aggressions in ongoing encounters in twenty-first-century daily life and in the media. Some of these encounters are slights, seeming slips of the tongue, and some are intended to be offensive in the classroom, at the supermarket, at home, on the tennis court with Serena Williams, on the soccer field with Zinedine Zidane, online, on TV - everywhere, all the time. The cumulative stresses come to bear on a person’s ability to speak, perform, and stay alive.

As you read, we encourage you to engage the text as a scholar and a critical thinker. Be ready and willing to investigate and research people, events, and images that you may find unfamiliar. In doing so, you will unlock a more profound understanding of the text while practicing the type of readership that is required for success during your college career. This book will not only serve as your first intellectual experience as you begin your time at Washington University in St. Louis, but it will be the only such experience shared by every member of your incoming class. We encourage you to take the necessary time to think deeply on its contents and reflect on what the book might change about your own conceptions of people and how they interact with one another.

Sincerely,

The First Year Reading Program Selection CommitteeJill Stratton, Karen Levin Coburn, Katharine Pei, Zach Romo, Dan Shea, and Rob Wild

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Authored by the First Year Reading Program Photography by WU Photographic Services

WELCOME

BLACKBOARD ASSIGNMENT

3 FIRST YEAR READING PROGRAM

Part of your participation in the First Year Reading Program requires that you log onto Blackboard, the WUSTL course management portal, and submit a 250 word response to one of the following three questions by Monday, August 10, 2015 at 5:00 PM CST. Please reference specific pages in your response:

1. Before reading the book, what did the title of “Citizen” mean to you? What meaning did it have after reading?

2. What issue(s) does Rankine target when she discusses visibility - or the lack thereof - throughout the book? Explain your analysis.

3. In what ways do poetry and visual art engage the subject of race and racism differently than another approach (such as an academic study or legal argument)?

You will find your FYRP discussion section listed on Blackboard (bb.wustl.edu) under “My Courses.”

Your submission will only be visible to the faculty or staff member leading your discussion group.

Technical SupportShould you encounter any difficulties, please contact the Teaching Center by phone at 314.935.6810 or online at https://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Pages/Contact-Us-General-Questions.aspx

Don’t forget to complete this New Student Checklist to do item!

REFLECTIONS FROM A SENIORDear Class of 2019,

At Washington University, there are many experiences that unite us: walking with a crowd of new students through a walkway lined with glow sticks during Bear Beginnings: New Student Fall Orientation, painting the underpass, exploring The Loop, or swinging in a hammock on the Swamp. By reading this book, you are participating in one of the numerous traditions that ties you to the Wash U community. For the past fourteen years, every incoming first-year student has read the same book as their future classmates, and has had the opportunity to participate in an engaging dialogue with their new peers, facilitated by dynamic faculty members. Every student has their own story: we come from across the country and around the world, we have experienced different upbringings, and we have various academic interests and extracurricular passions.

The First Year Reading Program is your first shared experience: the first of many similarities you will find among your new peers. Reading this book is not only the start to fostering an accepting, respectful, and open community, but it also marks the beginning of an incredibly wonderful intellectual journey that is not limited to the classroom experience. We hope this book inspires you to continue thought-provoking discussions and to engage in dialogue with your peers as you learn about their differences and are brought closer together by your commonalities.

One of the most exciting things about your first year hear at Wash U is the amazing community that is fostered. To begin discussing what it means to be a member of our community, we ask that you read Citizen: An American Lyric, which is an examination of race in America, and the power of individual interactions, from blatant racism to microaggressions. As you begin reading this book, we ask that you consider your own experience with race and your identity. While reflecting on who you are as a person and your experiences in interacting with others, we hope you will start to think about how you can contribute to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all of your peers. While your story may not parallel that of Claudia Rankine’s, we hope that her introspection will encourage you to ask important questions of yourself.

Our hope is that you will benefit from the program, both in reflecting while reading, and in discussing with your new peers. While this book might not be the book that changes your life or the book that inspires you to be the next great poet, our goal is that you will connect to your classmates and revel in the shared experience of engaging in the same text as everyone in the Class of 2019.

Enclosed, you will find your very own copy of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine. Please look inside the book for a letter from Provost Holden Thorp. In the reader’s guide, you will find discussion questions to ponder as you explore Citizen.

Happy reading,

Shana ZuckerStudent Member, First Year Reading Program Book Selection CommitteeClass of 2016

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CONTEST GUIDELINES

For this year’s contest, we invite you, the reader, to think of specific ways you have been seen or unseen. Your submission may be created in written format, video, photography, art piece, music or any other creative medium that can be submitted electronically for judging. If you are submitting a written entry, please limit it to a maximum length of 1,500 words.

The contest is open to all members of the Washington University Class of 2019. Please e-mail your submission to fyrp@wustl.edu no later than 5:00 PM CST on Friday, August 14, 2015.

The top five contest winners will receive lunch with author Claudia Rankine on Monday, September 28, 2015 at the Whittemore House, the private faculty and staff dining club. The grand prize winner will also win a $250 gift certificate from the Washington University Campus Bookstore.

The contest is optional but we hope you’ll consider including a submission!

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SAVE THE DATEMonday, August 10th at 5:00 PM CST Blackboard Submission Due

Friday, August 14th at 5:00 PM CST Contest Submissions Due

Friday, August 21st 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM FYRP Discussions with residential floor communities

Monday, September 28th at 7:00 PM Claudia Rankine Assembly Series Address in Graham Chapel

For more informationon the First Year Reading Program, upcoming events, and other resources, visit our website at fyrp.wustl.edu.

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This book was created byThe First Year Reading Program

Campus Box 1136One Brookings Drive

St. Louis, MO 63130-4899firstyear.wustl.edu

314.935.5040