Inside Higher Ed, an online ezine I faithfully read, recently published an article on “What College Freshman Will Read.” If you are a college freshman or have students just starting college, like I do, you’ll want to read this article which suggests several books that will help first-year students bond through a common reading experience and jumpstart their ability to discuss intellectual content.
A “Study by the National Association of Scholars,” a group that advocates for a more rigorous and traditional college curriculum, released a comprehensive analysis of what freshmen are being asked to read during college orientation programs. The findings suggest that certain kinds of books — on multiculturalism and the environment — dominate these reading selections.
The study, called “Beach Books,” questions whether the choices of colleges are too similar, too left-leaning and not sufficiently challenging. This article goes on to highlight several of the most commonly assigned summer reading books, books which will be discussed during the first few weeks of school. Bookshare has almost all of the titles:
- Approaching the Qur’an – The Early Revelations by Michael Sells
- Nickel and Dimed – On “Not” Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich
- This I Believe – a Collection of Essays
- Enrique’s Journey – by Sonia Nazario
- Three Cups of Tea – One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations by Greg Mortenson
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – by Rebecca Skloot
- Brother, I’m Dying – by Edwidge Danticat
Thanks for the great list of books to read. I’m not in college, but still your blog post made me want to read some of these titles. And thanks to Bookshare I can.