“Snow” is this year’s pick for the Great World Texts program facilitated by UW-Madison’s Center for the Humanities, a 9-year-old literacy initiative that provides Wisconsin teachers like Gibson with sets of novels chosen for their cultural and literary value, teaching guides and professional development, and provides students with a chance to respond to such work with projects of their choice that cover a theme of the book.
The culmination of that effort unfolds Monday, when about 500 students from 15 Wisconsin schools will meet at the Great World Texts conference at UW-Madison. The students will have a chance to meet and hear from the author they have been studying all semester, and to present and discuss their work together. Nine students have been chosen to have lunch with Pamuk.
The book was chosen for its global perspective, said program coordinator Heather DuBois Bourenane, but also because it is a text that is frequently asked about on Advanced Placement exams but not frequently taught in schools.