The shared common reader is a unique opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation with your fellow students and to begin to share in the intellectual life of the entire UD community. The book is read before arriving on campus with speakers, films, and other cultural events, organized around the theme of the book throughout your first semester.
Featured Book
I Never Thought Of It That Way (2024)
Mónica Guzmán invites us to be genuinely curious about others’ beliefs and opinions and provides compelling research on how to do so.
Latest News
‘STORY OF SURVIVAL’
Article by Amy Wolf Photos by Evan Krape October 18, 2023 Author Stephanie Land discusses class division and systemic poverty at First Year Common Reader event Author Stephanie Land discusses class division and systemic poverty at First Year Common Reader...
2023 Common Reader Essay Contest Winners
Seven students were awarded prizes in the 2023 Common Reader Essay Contest, in response to Land's book. The winners are: · First place: Kaleigh Barry, a University Studies student from Wilmington, Delaware...
SHARING REFUGEE STORIES
Article by Amy Wolf Photo by Kathy F. Atkinson October 28, 2022 Author Ahmed M. Badr discusses life as a refugee at First Year Common Reader event For too long, the global conversation around the refugee crisis has excluded the voices of the refugees themselves. Ahmed...
2022-23 FIRST YEAR COMMON READER
The 2022-23 First Year Common Reader for new students attending the University of Delaware is “While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Stories, Poetry, and Art from Young Refugees Around the World,” by Ahmed M. Badr Article by Meghan Biery Photos courtesy of Ahmed M....
2021 Essay Contest Winners
Eight students were awarded prizes in the 2021 Common Reader Essay Contest, in response to the book Under A White Sky, by Elizabeth Kolbert.
Tara Westover on Campus Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 5:30pm
Tara Westover, the author of Educated, will visit the University of Delaware on Tuesday, November 12, at 5:30 pm in Mitchell Hall.
2019 Common Reader Essay Contest
Open to All First Year Students Westover has titled her book Educated, and much of her education takes place in classrooms, lectures or other university environments — but not all. What other important moments of “education” were described in the book? What friends,...
2018 Common Reader Essay Contest Winners
Eight students were awarded prizes in the 2018 Common Reader Essay Contest, in response to book Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. Here are the winners: First place: Valerie Light, an Honors Program student and Communications Interest major from Marietta, GA Second place: Liam...
2018 Common Reader Essay Contest
Open to All First Year Students On page 29 author Hope Jahren writes: “Science has taught me that everything is more complicated than we first assume, and that being able to derive happiness from discovery is a recipe for a beautiful life.” As you enter...