Dear First-Year Student:
On behalf of President Stuart Rabinowitz and the entire Hofstra community, I welcome you to Hofstra University. You are about to experience Hofstra PRIDE – an academic community of students, faculty and staff who will provide the foundation and support for your intellectual and personal growth over the next four years. Expect to be challenged, expect to be nurtured, and expect to be surprised and delighted by the new directions your life will take.
Your summer orientation program is designed to whet your appetite for your experiences this fall in a Hofstra classroom. To prepare for orientation, I ask that you read the class of 2020 common reading, Are We All Scientific Experts Now? The author Harry Collins explores the ways in which scientific claims can be unknowingly misrepresented in media and misunderstood by the public, sometimes with tragic consequences. He attempts to restore society's confidence in science by illustrating the need to take into account the varying levels of "expertise" possessed by the individuals or agencies who interpret and communicate data on national and international platforms.
If you have questions about the Common Reading or about New Student Orientation, please call (516) 463-4874 or send an e-mail to orientation@hofstra.edu.
I look forward to meeting you this fall.
Sincerely,
Gail M. Simmons, Ph.D.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs