The Common Reading Program at Susquehanna University is an effort to create a shared intellectual point of engagement for first year students. These students are asked to read a common text that will then be used in a variety of ways during their first semester on campus in the fall, including during Welcome Week. The overall goal is to introduce students to life in a community of learners where we are all engaged in discussion and reflection on texts and ideas.

Faculty and staff also read the common reading and find a myriad of ways to use it to engage first-year students. In the classroom, in the residence halls, in administrative offices, over lunch, and in the gym, they engage students and each other in what are hoped to be lively conversations that challenge all to think critically about this text.