HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 9, 2016 – As soon as High Point University’s Class of 2020 arrives to campus, they’ll begin making an impact in the city.
Through this year’s Common Experience, titled “Growing Our Future,” first-year students will donate a copy of their favorite childhood book to local schools.
Each year, HPU’s Common Experience engages new students across academic disciplines as they make the transition to college. A series of programming and events focused on the ways in which people and cultures grow, consume and value food will take place throughout the year, including several major upcoming events.
As part of the Common Experience, students, faculty and staff have been reading “The American Way of Eating” by Tracie McMillan over the summer. Their book donation will allow them to share the joy of reading with local children.
Kickoff events for the program include a visit from McMillan, who will address students in the President’s Seminar; a large-scale theatre production of “The Grapes of Wrath”; and numerous curricular and co-curricular activities.
“Our programming includes faculty-led book discussions, a community service project and events such as guest speakers and movie screenings,” says Dr. Jenn Brandt, director of the Common Experience. “The theme ‘Growing our Future’ will be explored from a number of disciplinary standpoints as students begin their academic careers at HPU.”
The production of “The Grapes of Wrath” will allow theatre majors to engage incoming students, along with the entire campus and community, with a set that includes fire, lightning, a river with running water and more, all focused on John Steinbeck’s famous novel about farmers who faced failing crops during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression era.
“This production is part of a faculty extension project that allows our students to work with professional actors,” says Dr. Nathan Hedman, assistant professor of theatre and English at HPU. “The production for ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is always large-scale, but I don’t think any university has ever performed a production as big as this one.”
Books will be collected from the Class of 2020 on Aug. 21 in the R.G. Wanek Center and later distributed at different times to local schools.
The following Common Experience events are open to the public:
“The Grapes of Wrath” Theatre Performance – Hayworth Fine Arts Center
– Thursday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m.
– Friday, Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. – Community Night Performance featuring a talk-back panel after the show with local leaders.
– Sunday, Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m.
– Thursday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m.
A limited number of complimentary tickets are available for the general public by contacting the HPU Campus Concierge at [email protected] or 336-841-4636.
Global Development and Local Farmers in School Feeding Programs
Monday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m., Phillips 120; no tickets required
Katherine Casey, learning manager for the ”Procurement Governance for the Home Grown School Feeding” project, will discuss the role of NGOs in helping small farms get local produce into schools in Ghana, Kenya and Mali. The discussion will focus on global development and interventions linked with policy, production and social development, and the ways that lessons from the project can be applied to existing school feeding programs to improve practice at local, regional and national levels.
“Can You Dig This?” Film Screening
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 7 p.m., Phillips 120; no tickets required
As part of an urban gardening movement taking root in South Los Angeles, people are planting to transform their neighborhoods and are changing their own lives in the process. Calling for people to put down their guns and pick up their shovels, these self-titled “gangster gardeners” are creating an oasis in the middle of one of the most notoriously dangerous places in America. “Can You Dig This?” follows the journeys of four of these unlikely gardeners and the transformative power of community. After the screening there will be a panel discussion with representatives from some of High Point’s community gardens.