Instant
In recent years, this university has brought some notable public figures to campus to deliver thoughtful lectures, including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and, more recently, Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Christopher Bonanos, senior editor at New York Magazine and author of this year’s first year book, Instant: The Story of Polaroid, is one of the latest big names to visit the university. Bonanos addressed students in the Grand Ballroom of Stamp Student Union on Oct. 29, discussing Instant.
The lecture, which should have been a probing discussion exploring the rise of a multimillion-dollar industry, was instead a mumbled 45-minute history spiel that caused several audience members of an already sparse crowd to walk out halfway through. In three words: The event flopped.
The general lack of enthusiasm for the first year book at the lecture coupled with Bonanos’ lackluster speech raised a serious concern about this university’s First Year Book Program: Is it succeeding in its goal of “[providing] a shared intellectual experience for students,” as listed on the program’s website?
During a time when young adults should be at their peak in regards to cognitive exploration, students might be missing out on a stimulating intellectual opportunity because of the disinterest surrounding the program.
The rest of the description of the First Year Book Program reads: “Courses, departmental lectures, living/learning programs, and student groups all sponsor events that complement a major address by the author and/or other important visitors to campus.”
The failure of the program lies purely in its organizers’ inability to recognize its faults. In no way did Instant spark debates and conversation among first year students, and in no way can Bonanos’ visit to the campus be considered a “major address.”
As a student who hasn’t read this year’s book pick, I expected to leave the lecture enlightened about the rise of Polaroid, a corporation that redefined instant photography and still influences popular culture today. And while I might now know the company’s entire history because Bonanos’ talk was essentially a history lecture, I know nothing about why Instant was selected as the first year book.
There was no meaningful discussion about the book’s main points. There was no mention of the importance of innovation or a creative edge. Bonanos’ monotonous, rushed talk was all but asking every student in the audience to zone out on Twitter or even walk out. An experience that should have served as a personal intellectual examination was instead watered down to: Who honestly cares?
The indifference displayed by this university’s freshmen is perhaps a product of the First Year Book Program’s general indifference toward its own selection for the first year book.
Other colleges, such as Cornell University and Rollins College, require freshmen to read a chosen book and write an essay to prepare them for a discussion during orientation. This year’s freshmen at Cornell were required to read Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous, a novel that discusses a “social reality that we tend to gloss over and a surprisingly exact anthropological analysis of this reality,” according to the Cornell reading project website. Students then answered “Discovery Questions” based on the readings to be turned in during small group discussions at orientation.
This mandatory experience is an important one for incoming college students, as it provides all freshmen with some sort of intellectual foundation before they jump into college-level coursework. Its absence from this university’s community shows, as students can’t even comprehend the significance of the first year book.
The first year book talk concluded with a book signing by the author. Bonanos took a seat behind a table stacked with about 100 copies of Instant. Only 15 people wanted a copy signed.
