One Second After to be UMO Common Read

MOUNT OLIVE- The University of Mount Olive has selected William R. Forstchen’s New York Times bestselling novel One Second After for its Common Read book selection for the fall semester. Reading, discussing and writing about the novel will be a part of the curriculum for all freshmen in their Advisement 100 class.

Jackie Hill, Chair of the Common Read Selection Committee, explains that the book is used “to stimulate critical thinking, to encourage reading as part of an academic community and to serve as a jumping-off point for writing and discussion.” She also states that the book must be “engaging, informative and stimulating.” The Common Read Selection Committee includes faculty, students, staff, and community members.

One Second After describes what an electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP), could do in a split second to our country and its infrastructure. Hill elaborates, “Set in Black Mountain, NC, the novel details the frightful reality that would ensue after an EMP attack; unfortunately, the possibility of such an attack is all too real. The reader gets a realistic look at what technologies will cease to work one second after the attack, and an even bleaker picture of the myriad of life-threatening problems that will arise.”

Dr. Forstchen, a specialist in military technology, is a history professor at Montreat College.

He will visit the UMO campus this fall to speak to freshmen and community members.

Hill concludes, “By reading this book, we hope our college community will consider the destruction and aftermath of any type of earth-shattering attack while thinking about peaceful alternatives to global violence and destruction.”

The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has locations in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Research Triangle Park, Washington, Jacksonville, in Smithfield at Johnston Community College, and online.  For more information, visit www.umo.edu.

Mary Jones, a member of the UMO Common Read Selection Committee, unveils the book selected for the fall semester.