Programs Have Taken Hold of Many University

¶ … programs have taken hold of many university programs because they offer a "common intellectual experience to stimulate discussion, critical thinking, and encourage a sense of community among students, faculty and staff" (University of Florida). Most of the programs are for first-year students because there is a need to indoctrinate these students into the university experience. Also, students learn to appreciate literature on an entirely new level as they see how one written work can encompass many different subjects. The two books offered, The Red Badge of Courage and The Tempest, offer different experiences for the students, but they both encourage further reading in great literature. However, there is an obvious choice among the two because the potential for discussion ad integration is greater. The Red Badge of Courage is a work that can be understood in a contemporary context and is easily adaptable to multiple subjects.

Students entering college for the first time are generally in their late teens. Because of what has happened since September 11, 2001 most of those students have grown up with war and the reality of U.S. conflict since they began their educational careers. This is not to say that the current war on terror can in any way compared to the immediacy of the Civil War, but it is a topic that has probably dominated many assignments and discussion since the main event took place. Besides the fact of war assignments in school, many of the students will know, or have known, someone involved in the war effort. This makes the events in The Red Badge of Courage more contemporary than the other selection. Students would identify with the characters because they are young people, approximately the ages of the students at RVCC. The fact that some may either be compelled or choose to go to war in the near future could make the book even more understandable.

Another issue to consider is the malleability of the content across different disciplines. The story in The Red Badge of Courage is more than that about a soldier who sees his first battle and runs from it (Glencoe Literature Library). As a matter of fact, some study guides point out that many believe Henry Fielding's story was all in his head (Glencoe Literature Library). The fact that Fielding was a victim of the fears and doubts that any person facing battle, and possible death, would have to deal with makes this book an excellent study in an introductory psychology classroom. Of course, the Civil War is one of the main topics discussed in American History classes, so the book would be a perfect study for that area also. The humanities would be able to use the text, but so would other types of classes. Theater students could study the many adaptations of the book and either reproduce them or study the many iterations that the book has gone through. Journalism students could look at both Crane, who was a journalist, and the topic of the book to discover how a newspaper man goes from covering wars (The Spanish American) to writing a book about one. Literature and composition classes may benefit the most from this selection, but there are many possible applications for the work beyond those classes.

The college experience is not completed when a student leaves the classroom. Besides sporting events, there are many other opportunities for students to engage one another outside of the classroom. The Red Badge of Courage would offer a platform for many of these activities that the entire campus could get involved in. Of course, one of the plays that have been written using the book could be put on, or screenings of the movies made from the book could be shown, but there are others also. Students could be involved in reenacting actual scenes from the book in mock battle, a float could be made for a parade inspired by the book, different clubs could have readings of the book and discuss its different aspects outside of the classroom.