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Utah's Topaz internment camp subject of 2005 Connections
book selection
• Author to
speak Aug. 27
Adjusting from high school to a collegiate career
can be a daunting journey. Unknown experiences and expectations
can be stressful to the student. Those issues, among
others, brought about a specially designed program --
Connections -- for first-year students at Utah State
University.
Connections is a course specifically designed to ease
a student's transition to Utah State, providing
a foundation for a successful experience. The course
introduces critical college study skills, time-management
techniques and test-taking strategies. It also promotes
awareness of the campus community and the development
of a support network of classmates, faculty and staff
to ensure a successful beginning to the academic experience.
Students are encouraged to explore and become involved
in the Logan community, enjoying and participating in
the art and recreational opportunities available.
Part of the Connections experience is the summer reading
experience -- students read a selected title and complete
assignments associated with the work. This year students
are reading a book with ties to Utah's history, When
the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka. The work
is a fictional account of one family's experience in
Utah's Topaz internment camp during World War II. A
week of events and activities centered on the book culminate
in an address by the author Saturday, Aug. 27. The public,
including a number of local book clubs, has been encouraged
to read the book, and all are invited to attend this
session with the author.
Otsuka's lecture begins at 9:30 a.m. in the Kent
Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center on the USU
campus. The lecture is free.
"We encourage individuals and book clubs in the
community to read this book with us," said Christie
Fox, head of the Connections 2005 literature selection
committee. "We hope everyone will join us in welcoming
the author to Logan."
"When the Emperor was Divine" was published
in 2002 by Anchor Books and has been widely praised
for its style, readability and accurate portrayal of
this period in American politics and history. The
New York Times called the book "terse but
eloquent rendered with a sure sense of detail."
The Connections summer reading experience was created
to bring all Connections students immediately into an
intellectual experience similar to future academic activities
at Utah State University, said Noelle Call, director
of the Academic Resource Center. "It is part of
the university's mission to help students develop
intellectually, personally and culturally, so that they
may serve the people of Utah, the nation and the world,"
she said.
The book was chosen because it explores a period of
American history when the country struggled with issues
similar to those faced today — issues of conflict
between freedom and security.
"As we learn to live in a post-9/11 world, we
must all ponder the choices and issues facing us,"
Call said.
"In addition, the book demonstrates adapting
to a strange environment, which is an issue particularly
pertinent to first-year students."
The book's selection is timely since the 60 th anniversary
of the conclusion of the second world war, and the closure
of the internment camps, including Topaz, was just marked.
Residents of Delta and Provo had the chance to see a
performance piece developed by a San Francisco troupe
based on found objects from the Topaz site. Utah resident
Renee Morita wrote of her family's experience in a Utah
Voices selection ("Transforming a grave injustice
into opportunity for others," June 5, 2005) for
The Salt Lake Tribune.
Each year a committee selects the Connections reading
selection. This year marks the first time a work of
fiction has been selected. The first book was a collection
of poems by May Swenson. The second book was a biography,
Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the
Inner City to the Ivy League.
For more information on Connections 2005 or the reading
selection, contact Call at (435) 797-1194.
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