It is widely known that many of the world’s highly successful people are avid readers, but how did they launch reading habits that helped to propel them to success? Dr. Rochelle Zuck is revealing the answers in a new course this fall, Read Like a Boss (ENGL 2230X). The course will encourage students to start new and effective reading habits that are geared toward success.
The asynchronous online course will include activities such as evaluating the reading habits of highly successful people and creating a podcast with members of a reading group. The course will also look at works like Frankenstein and its connection to power and leadership, as well as to modern technologies like artificial intelligence. Geared toward instilling personally meaningful life skills, Read Like a Boss will teach strategies that will be useful to students not just in the reading of literature but also in the reading in their disciplines.
Zuck aspires for the course to be an asset to students’ academic and professional careers. “I hope the big takeaway will be a set of critical reading skills and habits that they can apply in whatever academic, professional, or personal direction they want to go,” she said. “The course proceeds from the premise that reading is a really fundamental skill and practice that is useful across a wide swath of professions and pathways.”
Katie Painter, a graduate assistant working toward her master’s degree in English, is helping Zuck with the groundwork for the course. “I think the best part about helping Dr. Zuck with this project has been learning—getting a peep behind the curtain and learning what goes into creating a course from scratch,” she said.
Photo by Katie Painter
The Read Like a Boss course will be open to all students. In addition, it will meet the arts and humanities requirement for students across departments, and it is being proposed for inclusion in the English major. After all, reading can be the key to success across many different fields and professional paths. “It’s not necessarily about sitting down with a three-volume novel every weekend,” said Zuck. “But it’s about thinking about how reading can help you.” Students interested in the course can learn more by reaching out to Dr. Zuck.