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The Soloist: csun's freshman common reading for 2009-2010 (ARCHIVED PAGE)

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Book cover for The Soloist by Steve Lopez

Mr. Ayers, Recording Artist: 2/3/2010 Update from Mr. Lopez

In today's Los Angeles Times, Steve Lopez writes about Nathaniel Ayers and his latest project: making a music CD: "Mr. Ayers--recording artist."

CSUN's Common Reading Program profiled by the CSU Chancellor's Office

The November-December issue of CSU Impact (published by the CSU Center for Community Engagement) profiles our work with The Soloist (by Steve Lopez), this year's Freshman Common Reading. (Read it online here.)

Learning from The Soloist

"From reading this book, I learned to value the small things in life . . . . This book also taught me that we should pay more attention to the people who we come across because we can learn from one another. Steve Lopez as a newspaper columnist surprisingly learned a lot from Nathaniel Ayers. Two people who share almost nothing in common develop such a good bond. One last thing I learned is to never give up on anyone. . . . [W]e must be patient and support one another because at the end of the day, if we have just one person who does not judge us and who believes in us, the possibilities are endless." (CSUN Freshman Alejandra Beltran, English 155)

The Freshman Celebration

Freshman students in 28 different classes displayed their first-semester work as part of the Freshman Celebration on Nov. 23, 2009. Several of the prizewinning projects were created in response to The Soloist. (For more pictures, see http://2009-freshman-celebration.tumblr.com/)

Steve Lopez gave the Freshman Convocation keynote speech on Thursday, September 3, 2009. If you missed, it check out the captioned videotape.

The Common Reading Selection Committee chose The Soloist by Steve Lopez as the Freshman Common Reading for 2009-2010. We invite all members of the campus community to continue working with us to develop additional ways of teaching and learning with the book.

This website offers assignment ideas, links to relevant websites, and suggestions for further reading. Want to add something? Please contact Cheryl Spector.

 

Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez on 60 Minutes

"How Mr. Lopez and Mr. Ayers Became Friends": 60 Minutes episode (3/22/09; repeated 9/6/09). Morley Safer talks with both men, and Nathaniel plays cello.


Photo of Beethoven's statue in Pershing Square by Sharron Kollmeyer Gerfen.
The Beethoven Statue in Pershing Square

Assignments Using The Soloist

This list is a work in progress. Got an idea? Share it: fill out this form (.doc or .pdf) and/or email it to me: Cheryl Spector (cheryl.spector@csun.edu). For Fall 2009 examples, see the photos from the Freshman Celebration.

Nathaniel's Playlist: Music in The Soloist

Live performances: Soloists in Concert at Oviatt Library, Music & Media, 2nd floor, East Wing: performances at noon on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Sep. 28-Oct. 2, 2009.

You can find a complete list of the "Musical Compositions Appearing in The Soloist" (along with a brief description of each piece) on the City of Thousand Oaks One City, One Book website, along with their thanks to the list compilers:

Campus Events: Some Other Possibilities


CSUN Provost Harry Hellenbrand reads The Soloist by Steve Lopez

Who Else was Reading The Soloist in 2009-10?

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