Colleges and universities nationwide have established common reading programs for incoming freshmen. Most frequently these programs form a component of new student orientation or courses entitled “First Year Experience.” Programs are designed to encourage dialogue between students, faculty, and guest speakers on common themes and issues. They are also intended to ease the transition between high school and college. Book choices for the common reading programs tend toward popular culture and contemporary issues, including the environment, social justice, diversity, and multiculturalism. Parents, faculty and staff are invited to read along with their students and join in the conversations. This list of titles will help you get ahead of the curve by exploring the books selected for first year reading programs for academic year 2011-2012.
This I Believe II: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman
How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?, by Moustafa Bayoumi
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ismael Beah
No Impact Man, by Colin Beavan
The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway
Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert
SuperFreakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The Last Town on Earth, by Thomas Mullen
Physics for Future Presidents, by Richard A. Muller
Saints at the River, by Ron Rash
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
The Glass Castle, by Jennifer Walls
Dr. Stephanie Maatta Smith 6/20/2011