First Year Common Reader Program

First Year Common Reader ProgramA Common Reader is a book assigned to all first-year students to read before or shortly after they arrive on campus in the fall. The purpose of the First-Year Common Reader is to integrate the student into the University learning community as early as possible. The shared experience of reading the book, which can be a work of fiction or non-fiction, is a way to engage students socially and academically both inside and outside of the classroom. The theme(s) of the Common Reader are incorporated into discussions, activities and experiences of first-year students.


Program Goals

The goals of Lewis University’s First Year Common Reader Program were adopted by the Common Reader Committee in December of 2006:

  • Create a sense of community         
  • Promote discussion
  • Set academic expectations for students
  • Provide a shared intellectual experience
  • Encourage cross-disciplinary dialogue
  • Increase faculty-student interaction
  • Promote critical engagement with ideas
  • Encourage reading among first year students

Common Reader Selections

2004 & 2005 – Life of Pi
Yann Martel

2007 – Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Mark Haddon

2008 – Persepolis II
Marjane Satrapi

2009 – The Devil in the White City
Erik Larson

2010 – Garbage Land
Elizabeth Royte

2011 – Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream
Adam Shepard

2012 – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot

2013 – The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Kurt Schackmuth, Vice President for Mission and Academic Services
schackku@lewisu.edu