New Student Common Reading Program: Book Selection Process
Objectives of the Program
- To acquaint new students with Cal Maritime’s academic environment, including its mission and values
- To initiate relationships between students and the campus community
- To introduce students to academic discussion
- To inspire a lifelong love of learning
Selection Committee
Michele Van Hoeck, Co-Chair, Dean of Library
Aparna Sinha, Co-Chair, Culture & Communication
Matthew Fairbanks, Science & Math
Mike Holden, Mechanical Engineering
Valerie Holl McGowan, Marine Transportation
Ali Moradmand, Science & Math
Alex Parker, Science & Math
Amy Parsons, Culture & Communication
Sam Pearson, Marine Transportation
Ariel Setniker, Science & Math
Martin Shimada, student, Marine Engineering Technology
2020 Selection
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Spare Parts by Publication Date: 2014In 2004, four teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They were born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attended an underfunded public high school. No one had ever suggested to Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they might amount to much - but two inspiring science teachers had convinced these impoverished, undocumented kids from the desert who had never even seen the ocean that they should try to build an underwater robot. And build a robot they did. Their robot wasn't pretty, especially compared to those of the competition. They were going up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, including a team from MIT backed by a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil. The Phoenix teenagers had scraped together less than $1,000 and built their robot out of scavenged parts. This was never a level competition - and yet, against all odds . . . they won! But this is just the beginning for these four, whose story - which became a key inspiration to the DREAMers movement - will go on to include first-generation college graduations, deportation, bean-picking in Mexico, and service in Afghanistan.
2020 Theme: Global Awareness
Global Learning includes Global Awareness and is one of ten Institution Wide Learning Outcomes at Cal Maritime. Our Assessment Council (IWAC) describes Global Learning as 1) knowledge of global cultures and the environmental diversity that sustain human life, and 2) understanding of the responsibilities associated with promoting the welfare of the cultures of humanity and of the natural systems of planet Earth.
Finalists
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Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Publication Date: 2018 -
Notes on a Foreign Country by Publication Date: 2017 -
The Monk of Mokha by Publication Date: 2019
Final rating criteria for selection
1. Relevant to the Cal Maritime mission. The connection can be indirect, but it should be consistent throughout the book.
2. Multifaceted. Can the book’s themes be approached from most major fields (science, business, humanities, etc.)? Major themes must hold up under scrutiny.
3. Non-didactic. The book's themes shouldn't be too obvious or heavy-handed.
4. Artful, but not overwrought (prose style). It should be entertaining, but also thought provoking.
5. Impressive, to you. Rank the book for its "wow-factor."
Additional criteria: The committee will give preference to books under 400 pages, but strong recommendations for longer books will be considered. Committee also gives preference to books available in paperback.
Cal Maritime Mission for Undergrads
- Provide each student with a college education combining intellectual learning, applied technology, leadership development, and global awareness.
- Provide the highest quality licensed officers and other personnel for the merchant marine and national maritime industries.