One Book, One College
: Common Reading Programs
A
number of colleges and universities having reading in common or summer
reading programs. In many cases, libraries participate in choosing and
discussing the book. In some cases, the library initiated the program
and in others it appears to be either tied to a curriculum initiative
(e.g. first year seminars) or to orientation (coming more from Student
Affairs than from the academic side). In some cases, books are sent to
incoming students; in others students are urged to purchase the book
before coming to campus. For a literature review and analysis, see
Andrew Twiton's report, "Common
Reading Programs in Higher Education" (2007).
Several schools tie
the program to a first year experience program or a new student
orientation. (A list
of summer reading programs like these is also maintained by the
National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in
Transition at the University of South Carolina.) Some also are used in
courses, but this is by no means standard and tends to be something
teaching faculty choose to do on their own. Some programs offer public
events, most often an author appearance, but most aren't formally tied
to a wider community reads program (through, for example, public
library and high school cross-programming).
For a
state-by-state listing of what communities are reading, as well as
programs in the UK, Australia, and Canada, see the "One Book" page at the Library of
Congress's Center for the Book. The Beyond
the Book
project Website, a UK/Canadian research collaboration, has a lot of
useful information related to community reading programs. For an
excellent guide for first-year orientation discussion facilitators, see
this
handout
prepared by Rebecca Taylor Fremo, prepared with The Kite Runner
in
mind. Feel free to adapt it to your needs, but please give Becky
credit.
This
list (and the previous year's list) is based on information
gained from Web searches and from annual
queries to the Summer Reading, ILI-L and COLLIB-L discussion
lists. The year indicates
when the book was adopted as a common book. If you'd like your
institution added or information updated, please drop
me a line.
You may also be interesting in joining a Summer
Reading Listserv group maintained at Appalachian State
University.
In the
news: articles in The
New York Times, U.S.
News and World Report
and Educator's
Spotlight Digest. See also an interesting 2006 article by
Michael Ferguson in AAC&U's Peer
Review.
What were we reading in 2007?
Adams State College
(CO) - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Agnes
Scott Collge - The
Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)
Albion
College - Thank You For Smoking by
Christopher Buckley (2008)
American University - The Devil's Highway: A True Story
by Luis Alberto Urrea (2008)
Appalachian
State University
- The Glass Castle
by Jeanette Walls (2008)
Atlantic Cape Community College (NJ) - The Glass Castle
by Jeanette Walls (2008)
Augustana
College (Sioux Falls, SD) - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Ball State
University -
Field Notes from a
Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert (2008)
Barton College (NC) - Water for Elephants by
Sara Gruen (2008)
Bellevue
Community College
-The Martian Chronicles by
Ray Bradbury (2008)
Belmont University (TN) - Lies My Teacher Told Me by
James W. Loewen (2008)
Bernard
M. Baruch College, CUNY
- The Namesake by
Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)
Berry
College
- Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (2008)
Bluffton University (OH) - Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America by Ronald J. Sider (2008)
Bowling
Green State University
- The Last Town on Earth by
Thomas Mullen (2008)
Butler University (IN) - Listening
is an Act of Love by Dave Isay (2008)
Cabrini College (PA) - Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi (2008)
California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo - Montana 1948 by
Larry Watson (2008)
California
State University, Channel Islands - Southlands by Nina
Revoyr (2008)
California State
University, Chico Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
California
State University, Northridge - Nickel and Dimed by
Barbara Ehrenreich (2008)
California
State University, San Marcos - They Poured Fire on Us From the
Sky by Alephonsion
Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak (2007)
Carleton
College (MN)
- The Travels of a T-Shirt in a
Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli (2008)
Case
Western Reserve University - The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by
David Quammen (2008)
Catawba
College - The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini (2008)
Central College - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Chaffey College (CA) - Into
the Wild by Jon Krakauer (2008)
Champlain
College - The
Torilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle (2008)
Chandler-Gilbert
Community College
(AZ) - Garbage Land by
Elzabeth Royte (2008)
Clemson
University -
One Foot in Eden by
Ron Rash (2008)
Cleveland State University - Persepolis by
Marjane Satrapi (2008)
Coastal
Carolina University
(SC) - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Coker
College (SC)
- Saints at the River by Ron Rash (2008)
Colgate
University - The
Weather Makers by Tim Flannery (2007)
College of Charleston - more
- Longitude by
Dava Sobel (2008)
The College of New Jersey - World Made by Hand by
James Howard Kunstler (2008)
College of
the Redwoods
- Parable of the Sower by
Octavia E. Butler (2008)
College
of Wooster -
The Riverkeepers
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and John Cronin (2007)
Collin College
(TX) - All
Souls: A Family Story from Southie by Michael Patrick
MacDonald (2008)
Concordia College (MN) - Field
Notes from a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert (2008)
Converse College (SC) - Kettle
Bottom by Diane Gilliam Fisher (2007)
Cornell University - Linoln at Gettysburg by
Gary Wills (2008)
Creighton
University
- The
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan;
Surely You're Joking by Richard Feynman; Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
(2007); instructors choose one of the four for their section of a first
term seminar
Dartmouth
College - The Wisdom of Crowds by
James Surowiecki (2008)
DeSales - Character is
Destiny by John McCain (2008)
Duke
University -
What is the What by
Dave Eggers (2008)
East Tennessee State University - The
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (2007)
Eastern Illinois University - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by
Tracy Kidder (2008)
Eastern
Kentucky University
- A Hope in the Unseen by
Ron Suskind (2008)
Eastern
Michigan University - Autobiography
of a Face by Lucy Grealy (2008)
Elon
University
(NC) - The
Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by
Jonathan Kozol (2008)
Emerson
College - The Declaration of Independence (common
reading and veiwing expience with the theme "Civility - Incivility")
(2008)
Fairfield
University - Three
Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
(2008)
Farleigh Dickinson University (NJ) - The Namesake by
Jhumpa Lahiri (2007)
Florida
Southern College
- Colors of the
Mountain by Da Chen (2008)
Florida State
University -
Never Let Me Go by
Kazuo Ishiguro (2008)
Foothill College (CA) - The
Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle (2008)
Fort Lewis College - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Franklin Pierce
University
- Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2007)
Georgetown University - reportedly has an agreement
with the Man Booker Prize to read Booker prize winners
Goucher College - Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret (2008)
Grace
College (IN) - Not
for Sale by David Batstone (2008)
Greensboro College
- A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Guilford College (NC) - Big
Fish by Daniel Wallace (2007)
Gustavus
Adolphus College
(MN) - Chinese Lessons
by John Pomfret (2008)
Gwynedd-Mercy College - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Hamline University - an
anthology of articles that speak to the university's mission (2008)
Harrisburg Area
Community College
- The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2007)
Hawaii Pacific University - The
Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad (2007)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges - The Cathedral Within:
Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back by Bill
Shore (2007)
Houston Community College Northwest - Leaving Microsoft to Change the
World by John Wood (2007)
Howard Community College (MD) - Small Wonder by
Barbara Kingsolver (2007)
Huntingdon College (AL) - The
Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien (2008)
Idaho State University - Enrique's
Journey by Sonia Nazario (2008)
Illinois Central College - Farenheit
451 by Ray Bradbury (2007); the college participates
with Peoria Reads
Illinois
Wesleyan University
- The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2008)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Blink by Malcolm
Gladwell (2008)
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis - A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2008)
Indiana
University, South Bend
- more
- On the Origin of Species by
Charles Darwin (2008)
Indiana
University Southeast
- Skull Wars by
David Hurst (2008)
Ithaca
College - Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi (2008)
James
Madison University
- Federalist 10 by
James Madison (2008)
John Brown University (AR) - The
Chosen by Chaim Potok (2008)
Juniata College (PA) - Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande (2008)
Kalamazoo College - The Brief Wonderous Life of
Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2008)
Keene State College (NH) - The Devil's Highway: A True Story
by Luis Alberto Urrea (2007)
Kent
State University
- The Kiterunner by
Khaled Homeini (2008)
Lafayette College (PA) - The Omnivore's Dilemma by
Micheal Pollan (2008)
LaGuardia
Community College - CUNY
- An Inconvenient Truth
by Al Gore (2007)
Lasell College (MA) - Twentysomething
Essays by Twentsomething Writers by Matt Kellogg and
Jillian Quint (eds). (2007)
Lees-McRae College (NC) - The Death of Innocents
by Helen Prejean (2008)
Lehigh University - Blink by Malcolm
Gladwell (2008)
Lenoir-Rhyne College - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by
Tracy Kidder (2007)
Loyola Marymount University - The Year of Living Biblically by
A. J. Jacobs (2008)
Lynchburg College - Ecology
of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray (2007)
Louisianna State University - The Complete Persepolis by
Marjane Satrapi (2008)
Luther College - Warriors Don't Cry
by Melba Patillo Beals (2007)
Manhattan College - The
Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason (2007)
Marion University (WI) - Planetwalker by John Francis (2008)
Marquette University - Run
by Ann Patchett (2008)
Mars Hill College
(NC) - Honky by Dalton
Conley (2008)
Marymount College (CA) - The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2007)
Massasoit Community College - Mayflower
by Nathaniel Philbrick (2007)
Massbay Community College - Coyotes
by Ted Conover (2008)
Messiah College - The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini (2007)
Methodist University (NC) - They Poured Fire on Us From the
Sky by Alephonsion
Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak (2008)
Miami University
(OH) - Beyond UFOs
by Jeffrey Bennett (2008)
Michigan State University - They Poured Fire on Us From the
Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak
wiwth Judy A. Bernstein (2008)
Michigan Tech - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Middle
Tennessee State University - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Midlands
Technical College
(SC) - Duty A
Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War by Bob Greene
(2008)
Mills College (CA) - A
Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (2008)
Montana State University - The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People by Stephen R. Covey (2008)
Moravian College - The
Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
(2008)
Mount
Holyoke - Caucasia by Danzy
Senna (2008)
Murray State
University -
Clay's Quilt by
Silas House (2008)
Muskingum College (OH) - Ectopia by Ernest Callenbach (2008)
Nazareth College (NY) - Autobiography
of a Face by Lucy Grealy (2008)
Nebraska Methodist College - The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark
Haddon (2008)
New College of Florida - - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
New Mexico
State University
- The Devil's Highway by
Luis Urrea (2008)
New York Institute of Technology - The Audacity of Hope by
Barack Obama (2007)
Niagara
University -
The Things They Carried by
Tim O'Brien (2008)
Nichols College (MA) - The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini (2007)
Northern
Arizona University
- A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Northern Kentucky
University -
Love My Rifle More Than
You by Kayla Williams (2008)
Northwestern University - The
Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen (2008)
Northwood
University -
Where
Have All The Leaders Gone? by Lee Iacocca (2007)
Occidental College (CA) - The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)
Ohio State University - The Language of Baklava by
Diana Abu-Jaber and Moutains
Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (2008)
Ohio Wesleyan - Always Outnumbered, Always
Outgunned by Walter Moseley (2007)
Ohio
University -
Nickel and Dimed: On
Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2007)
Okahoma
City University
- Colors of the
Mountain by Da Chen (2008)
Otterbein
College
- A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Owensboro
Community and Technical College (KY) - Dismal Rock by
Davis McCombs (2008)
Pace University (NY) - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder (2008)
Parkland College (IL) - The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (2007)
Pennsylvania
State University, Berks
- The Alchemist by
Paul Coelho 2008)
Queens University of Charlotte - Blood
Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson (2007)
Ramapo
College of New Jersey
- The Canon
by Natile Angier (2008)
Roanoke College - The
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (2008)
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN) - The Life of Pi by
Yann Martel (2007)
Rutgers School of Arts and Science Honors Program - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Fall 2008); Close to Shore by
Michael Capuzzo (Spring 2009)
St. Ambrose University (IA) - Light And Darkness Anthology (2008)
St. Bonaventure University (NY) - Left
to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza (2008)
St. Francis University (PA) - Cage
of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard (2008)
St.
Louis Community College
- All Quiet on the
Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (2007)
St. Louis University - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Saint Mary's Colleg of California - The Omnivore's Dilemma by
Michael Pollan (2008)
St. Mary's College of Maryland - Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler (2008)
St. Michael's College (VT) - Babette's Feast by
Isak Dinesen (2007)
Salisbury
University (MD) - Into
the Wild by Jon Krakauer (2008)
Sam Houston State University (TX) - Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John de Graaf, Dave Wann, and Thomas Naylor (2008)
San
Diego State University
- Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
San Jose State University - Water for Elephants by
Sara Gruen (2008)
Sarah Lawrence College - The
Book of Sarahs by Catherine E. McKinley (2007)
Seton Hall University - Nickel and Dimed: On
Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (2007) the World by Tracy
Kidder (2007)
Smith
College - Native Guard by
Natasha Trethewey (2008)
Southern Mississippi - Their
Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee (2008)
Southwest Minnesota State University - Soul of a Citizen by
Paul Loeb (2007)
Spokane
Falls Community College
- The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri (2007)
Stonehill College (MA) - : Memories of a Boy Soldier by
Ismael Beah (2007)
SUNY Brockport - The Bone Woman by
Clea Koff (2008)
SUNY Oswego - Field Notes from a Catastrophe by
Elzabeth Kolbert (2008)
Susquehanna
University -
When the Rivers Run Dry:
Water - the Defining Crisi of the Twenty-First Century by
Fred Pearce (2007).
Sweet Briar College (VA) - Reading Lolita in Teheran by Azar Nafisi (2008)
Syracuse University - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder (2007)
Temple
University -
Black Ice
by Lorene Cary (2007)
Texas
Tech University
- The Devil's Highway:
A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea (2008)
Thomas
College (ME) - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Union
College (NE) - Black Ice
by Lorene Cary (2007)
University
at Buffalo, SUNY
- The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini (2008)
University
of Akron - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy
Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
University of Alabama,
Birmingham
- Field Notes From a
Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert (2008)
University
of Alaska, Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University - The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood and The
Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra (2007)
University of Arizona (Tucson) - blog
- Ishmael: An Adventure
of the Mind and Spirit by Daniel Quinn (2008)
University of
California, Berkeley - two
films, The Ice Storm and
Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon; see also the Summer Reading List
of books recommended by faculty.
University of California, Davis - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracy Kidder (2008)
University of Dayton
- Nonviolence:
Twenty-Five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea by
Mark
Kurlansky (2008)
University
of Florida - more
- When Rivers Run Dry:
The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century by Fred
Pearce (2008)
University of Idaho - 1
Dead in Attic: After Katrina by Chris Rose (2008)
University of Louisiana at
Monroe - The Alchemist by
Paulo Coelho (2008)
University of Louisville - Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (2008)
University of
Maryland (College Park) - War is a Force that Gives Us
Meaning by Chris Hedges (2008)
University of
Maryland, Baltimore County - Never
Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2006)
University of Massachusettes, Amherst (Commonwealth College) - Dean's
Book Course
- more - Extremely Loud and Incredibly
Close by Jonathan Safran Froer (Fall 2008) and Monique and the Mango by
Kris Holloway (Spring 2009)
University of Missouri - Ordinary Man by
Paul Rusesabagina (2007)
University
of Montana - Missoula
- Taliban: Militant
Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by
Ahmed Rashid (2008)
University of North Carolina at Charlotte - Enrique's Journey by
Sonia Nazario (2008)
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
- Covering: The Hidden
Assualt on our Rights by Kenji Yoshino (2008)
University of
North Carolina, Wilmington - Never Let Me Go by
Kazuo Ishiguro (2008)
University of North Texas - The
Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver (2008)
University
of Richmond
- Taking on the Big
Boys: Or Why Feminism is Good for Families, Business, and the Nation
by Ellen Bravo (2007)
University of San Francisco - Three Cups of Tea by
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
University of South Carolina - When
the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (2007)
University of South
Carolina, Aiken - Not
For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It by
David Batstone (2008)
University of Southern California - Never Let Me Go by
Kazuo Ishiguro (2008)
University of St.
Thomas - The Handmaid's Tale by
Margaret Atwood (2007)
University
of Tennessee, Knoxville - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
University
of Texas at Arlington - The
History of Love by Nicole Krauss (2008)
University of
Texas at San Antonio - A
Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind (2008)
University of the
Sciences in Philadelphia - My Sister's Keeper by
Jodi Picoult (2008)
University of Vermont - A
Long Way Gone: Memories of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah
(2007)
University of
Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science - America, 1908 by
Jim Rasenberger (2008)
University
of Washington
- The Devil's Highway by
Luis Urrea (2008)University of
Wisconsin, Oshkosh
- True West by
Sam Shepard (performance); A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
University of West Georgia - The Good Life by Erin McGraw; After the Lost War by Andrew Hudgins (2008)
University of Wisconsin, Parkside - The Pact by
Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt (2008)
University of Wyoming - Beyond Oil: The View from
Hubbert's Peak by Kenneth S. Deffeyes (2007)
Utah State University - A Long Way Gone: Memories of a
Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah (2007)
Virginia Commonweath University - Covering
The Hidden Assualt on Our Rights by Kenji Yoshino (2008)
Virginia Tech - Mountains Beyond Mountains: The
Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by
Tracy Kidder (2008)
Wartburg College - The
Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
(2008)
Washburn University (KS) - Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
by
Washington State University - Flu
by Gina Kolata (2007)
Wayne State University (MI) - Y
no se lo tragó la tierra / And
the Earth Did Not Devour Him
by Tomás Rivera (2008)
West Kentucky Community College - The
Girl with the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf; The Kite Runner by
Khaled Hosseini; The
Faith Club by Ranya Idlliby, Suzanne Oliver, and
Priscilla Warner; To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (2007-2008)
West Texas A&M - What is the What by
Dave Eggers (2008)
Western Carolina Unviersity - Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Western Connecticut State University - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)
Western Kentucky Community and Technical College - Rocket boys by Homer Hickam; One flew over the cuckoo’s nest by Ken
Kesey; Icy Sparks by Gwyn Rubio; Life is So Good by George Dawson (2008)
Western New England College - Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (2008)
Western Washington University - The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything by Gordy Slack (2008)
Wheaton (MA) - The
Omnivore's Dilemma
by Michael Pollan (2007)
Whitman College - Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi (2008)
Widener
University -
Brown Bag Bookclub (various books)
Winona
State University (MN) - The Blue Death: The
Intriguing Past and
Present Danger of the Water You Drink by Dr.
Robert Morris (2008)
Winthrop University -
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp (2007)
Woodbury University - I
am Alive in Los Angeles by Mike Sonsken ("Mike the Poet")
(2007)
York College (PA) - The
Road by Cormac McCarthy (2008)
Barbara Fister 8/08