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The Vassar College 2024 Common Reading for the Class of 2028: The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
September 23 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm EDT
Vassar College, one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the world, has selected The Prophets as its common reading for the 2024 incoming freshman class.
What is a common reading?
The common reading is a relatively new practice that colleges and universities (as well as elementary, middle, and high schools) began as a means of encouraging intellectual discussion, debate, and understanding amongst campus communities. According to Forbes:
“The core component of these programs, which often introduce new college students to their first academic assignment, is to engage an entire campus community—students, faculty and staff—in reading the same book in order to promote a wide-ranging conversation about an important issue or controversy.
That shared experience, which at most institutions is revisited and reinforced by additional programs and events throughout the year, is thought to build a sense of community and stimulate thoughtful interactions among students and faculty. At dozens of colleges, the exercise has been in place long enough to be regarded as a campus rite of passage.
Sometimes the program is limited to first-year students. However, at other colleges, all students are involved. A college’s selection of its common reader can occasionally stir controversy because of the hot-button topics that are often addressed in the assigned reading.”
The Vassar College 2024 Common Reading for the Class of 2028: The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
The William A. Starr Distinguished Lecture (featuring Jones)
Wednesday, September 23, 2024, 5:30 p.m. ET
The Villard Room
124 Raymond Avenue
Poughkeepsie, New York 12604
Free and open to the public