WELCOME
THEMES
EVENTS
PEOPLE
FORUM
Welcome to the 2007 Common Reading and Viewing Experience (CRVE) website!
The CRVE introduces students new to Emerson College to intellectual work in which close-reading, creative expression, critical thinking, and reasoned argument are central to the Emerson experience. Students will read two books, view excerpts from selected films, attend a dramatic reading, and participate in a panel discussion of experts September 5-6 during Orientation. Other related events will take place throughout the academic year.
This year's CRVE theme is "The Struggle for Free Expression. Over the summer, students will read The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States and Howl On Trial: The Battle for Free Expression (edited by Bill Morgan and Nancy J. Peters).
During Orientation, Emerson students and faculty will view excerpts from The Source (written, produced and directed by Chuck Workman, 1999); and The First Amendment Project (directed by Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus, and Mario Van Peebles, Sundance, 2005). The film screening will conclude with an audio track of former radio host Dom Imus' controversial remarks about members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team that caused nation-wide protests. Emerson College faculty members will present a dramatic reading of excerpts from poet Allen Ginsberg's 1957 obscenity trial following the film screening. The next day students will attend a panel discussion of experts who will discuss the influence the Beat Generation and Ginsberg's trial had on free expression, First Amendment rights and limits, and the role of journalism in censorship and free expression.
Visit the forum to communicate with CRVE organizers, other faculty, and students about questions you may still have about the CRVE. Sharing impressions and debating ideas is an important aspect of the work of the Emerson community; we hope that new students in particular will take advantage of this chance to join the conversation, even before they arrive on campus.
We are looking forward to meeting you in September and hearing your feedback on the CRVE. Until then, read the books, explore the site -- enjoy the experience!