After the College of Literature, Science and the Arts encouraged student to ponder "What makes life worth living" in its previous theme semester, the college aims to tackle a simpler topic in the coming months — water.

But, according to those involved in the theme semester planning, water is anything but trite.

“We are all made mostly of water, we all live near water, and we are all connected to water — at least in a basic way,” Manja Holland, co-chair of the LSA Theme Semester Steering Committee, said.

In accordance with the LSA Theme Semester, 75 academic courses are currently being offered that are related to the study of water. LSA will also sponsor more than 90 water-related events throughout the semester, including lectures, performances and workshops across campus.

Holland, a fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, proposed the water theme for this semester. She said she thought of the idea because of its omnipresence in her career as an ecologist and in the work and research of her colleagues and the world.

Amy Harris, co-chair of the steering committee, said the theme will focus on water sustainability, ecological studies and many other disciplines.

“It’s not only about environmental sciences,” Harris said. “It’s also about literature, the visual arts, culture and history.”

Though organized by LSA, more than 40 departments across campus and about a dozen Ann Arbor institutions not affiliated with the University — like the Ann Arbor Public Library and local businesses — will also participate.

The semester program began yesterday with an ice percussion concert held on the Diag, where students and faculty members played replicas of ancient percussion instruments made of ice.

Other upcoming events include a riverbank clean-up project and a lecture by world-renown oceanographer Sylvia Earle, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence at the University.

Harris said organizers have also begun a ‘”message in a bottle” campaign. Reusable water bottles will be distributed on campus, with each bottle containing a slip of paper with 10 basic water facts and 10 actions that students can take to preserve water.

This fact sheet, developed by a team of students in the Program in the Environment class titled “Sustainability and the Campus,” will also be posted as advertisements on University buses in order to raise awareness about water conservation.

“We have a kind of ‘water literacy’ goal,” Harris said. “We hope that students will learn the key facts about water because it’s becoming one of the major environmental issues of the 21st century.”

LSA junior Kyle Anderson is a member of the theme semester’s student steering committee. He said he hopes that the theme will encourage students to work toward water sustainability.

“Besides general knowledge about water issues on campus and around the world, we’re hoping to actually change behavior,” he said.

Still, some students said they don’t believe the theme is as all encompassing as it purports to be.

LSA freshman Dominique Crump said she wasn’t inclined to take any theme semester courses because she thought they were too focused on science.

“I loved last semester’s theme, (What Makes Life Worth Living?),” she said. “But this semester I didn’t think there was a lot of diversity in the class selection.”

LSA junior Amber Ostazewski said though the topic of water isn’t explicitly in her field of interest, she feels the theme successfully involves many different subjects.

“I think it’s a strange topic, but it’s good that they’re choosing a theme that’s interdisciplinary,” she said.