FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –The University of Arkansas Press’s War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, by Melody Moezzi, has been selected by the University of Dayton as its First Year Read for the incoming class of 2009. The book was selected by a committee comprising college administrators, faculty, staff and students, according to Lori Phillips-Young, coordinator of the University of Dayton’s First Year Read Program.

War on Error was selected from among 48 books that were nominated in a campuswide poll. Moezzi’s book is part of the University of Dayton New Student Orientation “Dialogues.” All entering freshmen will be expected to read the book then participate in a dialogue about diversity using War on Error as a focal point.

University of Dayton administrators, faculty and staff will facilitate small group conversations for more than 1,750 incoming students.

War on Error was selected in part for its multifaceted look at Islam. “Our goal was to choose a book that would get students thinking and talking about cultural diversity,” Phillips-Young said. “War on Error was a clear and favorite choice.”

Moezzi, who is of Iranian descent, and a former Daytonian, wrote War on Error after Sept. 11 in an effort to debunk Islamic stereotypes. She interviewed American Muslims of many different ethnicities who hold with various approaches to their faith; however, all were horrified that their religion had come to be represented, in the minds of many, by terrorism. “What I want to do is humanize Islam,” Moezzi said in an interview with Publishers Weekly.

Being selected as the University of Dayton’s 2009 First Year Read is the latest of several honors that War on Error has received since its 2007 publication. The book received an honorable mention designation from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights, and Moezzi was chosen as the winner of the 2008 Georgia Author of the Year Awards in the essay category. She has been invited to read at nationally known venues, including the Tattered Cover in Denver and the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark. War on Error has also received coverage in several prominent publications including The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Publisher’s Weekly and the Dayton Daily News.