Where Am I Wearing? Selected as the 2012 Common Book

Quick Facts

Kelsey’s journey fits perfectly with Winthrop’s tradition of encouraging students to ask important questions and giving them the tools to find the answers, said Gloria Jones, dean of University College.

It’s also the first Common Book selected under Winthrop’s Global Learning Initiative, a five-year plan designed to improve students’ global knowledge, attitudes, and engagement.

Kelsey Timmerman

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Kelsey Timmerman’s love of travel drove him to become more than a tourist; it led him on a quest to understand the world and the seemingly far away people whose lives were intertwined with his own.

His quest is chronicled in Where Am I Wearing?, Winthrop University’s 2012 Common Book. Kelsey’s journey fits perfectly with Winthrop’s tradition of encouraging students to ask important questions and giving them the tools to find the answers, said Gloria Jones, dean of University College.

Timmerman’s journey began with a simple question: “Who makes my clothes?” His attempt to answer that question led him to China; Bangladesh; Cambodia; Honduras; and Perry, New York. He visited the factories that made his clothes, learning about the forces of globalization, the lives of those who worked in the factories, and himself.

It’s also the first Common Book selected under Winthrop’s Global Learning Initiative, a five-year plan designed to improve students’ global knowledge, attitudes, and engagement.

In providing Winthrop students with the opportunity to travel along with Timmerman as he discovers “where he is wearing,” Winthrop will engage students, faculty, staff, and community in a global conversation, said Jones. Plans are under way for a visit to campus by Timmerman and related programming in each college.

New students will receive a customized copy of the book at Orientation and will be required to read the book over the summer. Themes from the book are explored during the freshman course, ACAD 101, and in some other courses.

The Common Book Project, in place at Winthrop since 2004, works to integrate Winthrop students into the university environment and acquaint them with Winthrop’s strongly held intellectual and academic values.

For more information, contact Jones at 803/323-3900 or jonesg@winthrop.edu.

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