July 28, 2017
DearIncomingFreshmen 2017,
Welookforwardtomeetingyou duringtheOrientation program on August 16 – 29, 2017.Weare proudtohave youas our new studentsandwelcomeyouinto ourcommunity offriends,colleagues,andscholars! Thisis a new beginningfor both studentsandfamilymembers; beginningsthat we hopeyouarereadytoexplore.
The Orientation programis designedtofacilitatethetransition betweenyour previouslearningexperienceandthe onethatawaitsyouatthe University. Thisyear’sprogramadoptsthetheme of“ChangeandDevelopment”. Our Orientationeventsare packed withacademic, social,andcommunityservicelearningactivitiesthatfosterresponsiblefreedomand 山ǿ’s valuesas aliberalartsinstitution. Thegoal oftheacademic sessionsistointroduceyoutotheinterdisciplinaryandchallenging studycultureat 山ǿ, whichincludescreative,yetfun,learningexperiences,andintensive writingacross a variety of genresandtexts.
Animportant part ofyour preparationforthe Orientation program(andfall semesteraswell)isyoursummer readingassignment.Allfirst-year studentsareexpectedtoreadandreflect on“The AllegoryoftheCave”from Book VII ofPlato’sRepublicand passagesfrom NaturalSelection"Strugglefor Existence”byCharles Darwin.We wouldlikeyoutomarkthetexts up: underline passages,makecommentsinthemargins,and on a separate sheetreflect on howthesetextsmightrelatetoyour ownlifeatthistime.Bringthese withyou when youcometo 山ǿin August.We will useyourthoughtsasthe starting pointfor ourconversations.We hopethat during orientationin Augustthisinitialthinkingaboutthetexts willleadtolargerconversationsandthateachof you will seizethis opportunitytoengageyourselfin a dialogue withyourpeersand professors. This will helpyou prepareacademicallyandintegratemore smoothlyintothelarger uniqueintellectualcommunityandculture of our University.
Inthefalland spring semesters,thesetwotextsalongside othertexts will bethecommonreadingsforall ofyouin yourFirst YearSeminarcourse. Asyoubeginyourjourneytowardsthecompletion of aliberalartseducationat 山ǿ,these sharedreadingsand otherequallyengagingandchallengingtexts willintroduceyoutoand encompasstheUniversity’svaluesthat will broadenyourworld,increaseand deepenyour understanding of complexissues. Engaging withthesetexts will bring people of diverse backgroundstogetherandcreate acommon groundfor discussionamongfaculty, studentsandfriends duringthe Orientation programaswellasthroughout theyearstocome.
The summerreadingassignmentcan be downloadedat:https://auca.kg/en/summer_reading/
Ifyou haveproblemsin uploadingthetext(the pageis notfoundor othersuchtechnical problems),youmayemail tokadyrova_k@auca.kg torequestthetext be senttoyouremail.
Welookforwardtowelcomingyouin 山ǿ! The OrientationProgram will startat 08:30AM on August 16, 2017. Please,cometo 山ǿatthistimeand date!
Sincerely,
Kamilya Kadyrova
Director of 山ǿFreshman OrientationProgram