Common Reading at the UO has been a campus-wide program in Undergraduate Studies since 2014. Its goals are building community, enriching curriculum, and engaging research through the shared reading of an important book.
The selected book for 2017-18 is Louise Erdrich’s The Round House. Guest scholars and artists as well as UO faculty, staff, and students have been engaging with the book and its associated themes and contexts. Curricular resources are available for faculty using the book in classrooms as well as discussion groups throughout campus (See https://commonreading.uoregon.edu/roundhouse/). A list of past, current, and upcoming public events for the academic year can be found at https://commonreading.uoregon.edu/events/.
The Common Reading Selection Committee for 2018-19 invites input from Senate members on the current shortlist of nominated books based on the theme of transborder/transnational. A call for book nominations on this theme was sent throughout campus networks in October, and 46 nominations were received. Reviewing the nominations through the lens of the selection criteria, the committee determined that 12 of the nominations should go forward for the next round of review. Committee members are currently learning more about each of these books.
As part of the committee’s review process, we invite all Senate members to share insights on the list provided below. Comments can be shared via commonreading@uoregon.edu by Monday, December 4. Selection criteria are available at https://commonreading.uoregon.edu/about-the-common-reading/.
Common Reading Book Nominations currently under review.
1) Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
2) The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
3) Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
4) This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror by Moustafa Bayoumi
5) Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
6) Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
7) No Longer At Ease by Chinua Achebe
8) A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
9) Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran
10) Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes
11) They Leave their Kidneys in the Fields: Illness, Injury, and “Illegality” Among US Farmworkers by Sarah Bronwen Horton
12) The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail by Jason De Leon
The next meeting of the Common Reading Group is noon on December 4th. Please email commonreading@uoregon.edu if you have any comments/suggestions before then.