I’ll bite. It may be designed to do “almost” that. But not IDing homophobes, as your values are not set in stone. Instead, they want to get both sides to see the other’s POV and discuss. I know little about Islam, so new Dukie, tell me what the Koran says about lesbianism, and how has that affected your views?
But do they? How are you going to convince a conservative Christian that his POV will be treated with equal respect? Has a book with a conservative Christian viewpoint been chosen in previous years?
From the cited link,
Other finalists from this year were In addition to “Fun Home,” included:
• “All the Light we Cannot See,” Anthony Doerr
• “It Happened on the Way to War,” Rye Barcott
• “Red,” John Logan
• “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics ad Religion,” Jonathan Haidt
• “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains,” Nicholas Carr
Liberalism gone wild. Why should this be required reading on any school’s curriculum? Good for these students for refusing to be indoctrinated. Maybe they are smart after all.
Both on my kids’ high school summer reading lists and the latter was required of all students around sophomore year. Oh the horror 
I don’t see anything by Anne Coulter on any of those lists.
OMG, even I might balk at reading Anne Coulter!
You may be right about the lack of fundamentalism in reading choices. I suppose they presume that is the mainstream (conservative Christians). But I would imagine a book with a Muslim theme has popped on the list. Or other religions.
I guess I just don’t understand why this memoir, which presumably contains real events that happened to an actual person, is indoctrination. What makes her life story liberal propaganda over someone else’s life story, like Elie Wiesel’s? Is it the sexual content? Or the fact that it’s about homosexuality? Not trying to be facetious, just trying to figure out what the root of the problem is for you.
edit, missed a letter.
Yeah – maybe it’s not so much a left/right thing, but a “morality/decency” issue. Regardless, we improve ourselves by encountering other points of view.
Re post 37 and menloparkmom–
It is only a book. know that. Take it or leave it. Nobody HAS to read/see it. Most will ignore the list altogether.
But the problem is that this NON-required exercise in futility that makes a target of kids for NOT reading it. And then condemned for their “beliefs” (nobody knows what they believe really). It’s a broad sweep “think like us” mentality of a social issue. Talk about close-minded!
There is no open intellectual discourse. To think that the “discussion of varying views” will ever exist is ludicrous. No matter how important that discussion may be I think it is already shut down. No kid with the “differing view” would open their mouth to ask a question in that environment.
And yes, that is a slippery slope.
Maybe they should wait for AFTER four years of enlightenment/indoctrination before having discussions. Oh wait,…engineers are too busy studying math and science to worry about this stuff…
Post 47–
Again, I haven’t seen the book. But it is a graphic novel where art is very much part of the story. It’s different than reading just a story on its own.
I have NOT seen this book but I will say that while I hate violence I read “Fight Club” but had a harder time watching the movie. It was two different experiences for me.
Nothing to do with my “Christian believes”. I hardly ever even go to church. I can understand if this is required reading for a class in LGBT studies, even though I think that’s a crap major, at least the students consciously choose that topic to study. But this is required freshman reading, presumably for all freshmen? Why does the university feel the need to cramp sexuality and homosexuality down everyone’s throat? What would a business/STEM major for instance get out of reading such a book? How does that help him/her in her main area of studies? Liberals love to go on and on about themselves, how I feel feel feel about who I am, how I’m such a victim of society, of my stupid parents, of the “system”. Give it a rest already. Some of us simply don’t give a crap about how the writer of this book feel about her own sexuality. We have bigger things to think about, like how to change the world with a new invention or how to make a living. I’m just so sick of this kind of self-absorption in our society. And now for a university to cramp it down students’ throat is just beyond the pale.
Gouf, what if the assignment were to go online and view specific pieces of art, including the Venus De Milo and Michelangelo’s David, both of which feature nude representations of people, in preparation for a discussion about the role and meaning of art? Should a Duke student be entitled to beg out of that assignment because of the nudity?
No one is “cramping” or cramming anything. Just asking them to understand that it is there, and to accept it in the public life, even if the personally reject it.
What I find rather ridiculous is the idea that for an “Engineering” or “Business” student, it is a waste of time to read some “literature” of whatever sort. Just get those computers programmed and those balance sheets reconciled. Leave that artsy-fartsy stuff to the folks who are humanities majors. The “practical” sorts don’t need to converse, or think, or interact, or reflect, ya know.
I say this as a B.S. and Ph.D. Engineering degree holder, who graduated from a small liberal arts school.
I haven’t read any of the comments but we just had this book as our bookclub choice and it was great.
Methinks that these freshmen should go back and read the Duke Admissions website: Duke embraces openness in the pursuit of knowledge and welcomes intellectually restless students who use their talents to put ideas to the test. We view education not only as a gateway to personal development, but also as a pathway for improving society.
@cmsjmt #43: Except this isn’t required reading—it’s an optional reading assignment.
Perhaps the university thinks it worthwhile for students, growing up in an environment where this isn’t seen as acceptable, to be exposed to the ideas in this book. Again, I think the purpose is inclusiveness.
Years back a high school student posted a lot of pretty ugly anti-gay rhetoric on this parents’ board, quoting his church. Some of us advised him that wasn’t going to go over too well at his intended colleges and discussed why that was. Some of us were not too surprised when he told us his biggest challenge freshman year was dealing with the realization he was gay. He was in a really safe place to come to grips with that.
“What would a business/STEM major for instance get out of reading such a book? How does that help him/her in her main area of studies?”
That’s right. There is no person, ever, in business, who would benefit from any greater world-thought other than does this line item go in the debit or credit column. There is no person, ever, in business, who might ultimately run a human resources department and make policy decisions that intersected with gender / sexuality. There is no person, ever, in business who might decide to market to the LGBT community. There is no person, ever, in business, who actually deals with other human beings.
God, spare me from all the robots on CC.