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GCC's 'Tale' involvement a continuing success
Thursday, March 12, 2009
By Kevin Kennedy Daily News Intern
Susan Chiddy, an adjunct instructor of social sciences at Genesee Community
College, remains optimistic about the effect of the "A Tale for
Three Counties" community reading project at GCC.
The college's fifth year of involvement in the seven-year-old project has seen continuing growth in the popularity and investment in the Tale program.
A full 19 classes integrated this year's Tale book, Separate From the World by P.L. Gaus, into their curriculum, with about 350 students participating in class discussions.
Gaus' book, the sixth in his Ohio Amish mystery series, investigates the death of an Amish dwarf and a college student. The cases eventually become linked and show the contrasts between Amish and "English" -- or non-Amish -- societies. As the story progresses, a rift is revealed in the Amish community.
Integration varied by class -- in Chiddy's human relations class, students used the characters in the book as models for discussing emotion, while an introductory biology class used themes from the book as a "jumping-off" point for lessons.
Other subject areas that used the book were reading, English, sociology, biology and First Year Experience.
The goal of Tale at GCC, according to Chiddy, is to encourage dialogue, and get students to view reading and discussing as a lifelong habit.
That goal, for the most part, seems to be working. At a recent discussion session in GCC's student union, students expressed a variety of reactions to the book and characters. Some were perplexed or upset by the "simple and complacent" life of the Amish, while others saw the benefits of living outside a "technological" culture.
The discussion brought mixed reviews of the book. Shellene Bailey, a sophomore at GCC, enjoyed the book as a piece of fiction, but was "unimpressed with the educational value of the book," describing it as "cutesy." Another student, John Goodenberry, noted that he hated the book, but really enjoyed the discussions and varying insights that they introduced. Matt Dennison, another sophomore, agreed, calling the book a "good one for (studies in) the humanities."
Participation in the program isn't limited to classes alone -- the book is available free to all students, provided they agree to read and attend discussion sessions. In fact, the involvement of the program at GCC has been so successful that it has received GCC's President's Innovative Award, given to projects and programs that successfully involve the college and the community.
The Tale program has been implemented in a number of areas during the past five years. Last year, a "plague art" exhibit connected with themes from 2008's Tale book The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen; the year before, the Student Association sponsored a "Dinner and a Movie" event, screening the film version of An Unfinished Life, that year's Tale book.
The college also has its own essay contest for students, with winners receiving the opportunity to meet with the author.
The Tale for Three Counties program is a cooperative effort between public libraries in Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties, as well as Genesee Valley BOCES, Genesee Community College and The Daily News. Each year, the organizing committee selects a book from a promising or relatively-unknown author that has serious literary potential while still remaining accessible to casual readers.
Gaus will present talks and sign books at events scheduled today through Saturday at GCC (1 p.m. today); Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., Batavia (7 p.m. today); Lee-Whedon Memorial Library, 620 West Ave., Medina (7 p.m. Friday); and Perry Elementary-Middle School, 50 Olin Ave., Perry (2 p.m. Saturday).
For more information on Tale, visit the Web at www.taleforthreecounties.org.
Professor was once author's student
Brendan McCabe, an adjunct biology professor at Genesee Community College, is a former student of Paul L. Gaus, the featured author of this year's "A Tale for Three Counties" program.
Gaus taught for more than 30 years at the College of Wooster in Ohio. McCabe took one class from Gaus, the retired chemistry professor's first-year seminar class about different American cultures.
"One of the objectives of first-year seminar at Wooster was to have professors teach some of their interests outside of their department," McCabe explained. "We read several books and class mostly consisted of discussions."
Gaus helped guide the discussions and, McCabe said, "posed questions that encouraged me to think deeper and in a more objective manner."
"I even changed my viewpoint about gun-control in his class," McCabe said.
Other topics covered included the Amish, with a field trip to visit with one of Gaus' Amish friends; the Navajo, with a Tony Hillerman novel or two; and inequity in the United States.
McCabe acknowledges that he didn't read any of his professor's Ohio Amish novels while in college, but he has since added them to his personal summer reading list.
Of his professor's second career, McCabe said "it is not surprising given the Amish and mystery topics that he chose to include in his first-year seminar class."
Courtesy of Batavia Newspapers Corporation