How Common Reading Works - FAQs

What is Common Reading at the UO?

The UO Common Reading program is designed to provide new students at the UO with a common experience, and to foster conversation and community building throughout the university.

Every academic year, the program presents an engaging selection, often a book, to be the focus of a campus-wide discussion. The program may invite the author to speak on campus or help organize and sponsor other events on campus around the book and its themes.

The program also encourages students, faculty, and staff to incorporate the selected work or its themes into course curricula and co-curricular programming throughout the school year.

The program seeks to foster intellectual engagement across disciplines and spark dialogue inside and outside the classroom.

How are titles and themes selected for Common Reading?

The Common Reading program solicits suggestions from the entire UO campus as it begins its search to find the next year’s reading selection, which can be a book, essay, podcast, documentary, or another creative or research work.

From there, a committee of campus partners, faculty, students, and program administrators will consider anywhere from 50 to 200 recommended titles. Over a period of nine months to a year, the committee works to narrow the choices and create a shortlist of finalists, before making final selections. During this process, the committee consults with faculty, staff, administrators, and students who are not committee members.

The committee seeks out thought-provoking works on topical, timely, and complex subjects, in order to help engage students and to hone critical thinking skills, while engaging in difficult topics respectfully.

How might students be introduced to Common Reading selections?

Students may be introduced to Common Reading selections as part of the UO’s student orientation programming, through optional Common Reading events or partnership series with other campus organizations, or in a class if a professor chooses to incorporate it into their curriculum.

Common Reading is not a mandatory program, and it is open to all UO students who are interested in engaging in the selected works.

How does the program encourage students to engage with Common Reading selections?

Beyond reading the selections, UO students can engage with Common Reading more actively by attending program events and partner events, utilizing the research guides the program produces, and engaging in active discussions in residence halls. Students can follow the program on Instagram or visit the First-Year Experience Canvas Community website to stay connected to Common Reading programming throughout the academic year.     

How can students benefit from participating in the program?

We believe a vibrant Common Reading program holds many benefits to students and campus community.

Intellectual engagement

  • Supports students’ academic transition to college.
  • Touches on wide-ranging themes that prompt inquiry, reflection and discourse.
  • Fosters multidisciplinary integration across curriculum.

Community engagement

  • Generates campus-wide dialogue and programming around key selections.
  • Build sense of belonging and community among students through a common and shared experience.
  • Acts as an initial bridge between new students arriving on campus, and between students and faculty and staff.
  • Fosters civil discourse by exploring different views and experiences through respectful dialogue.

What resources are available for UO community members potentially affected by challenging or emotive themes the program engages with?

Because of the nature of our program, we know that some topics and themes in Common Reading selections are difficult, may challenge readers, cause disagreement and/or strong emotions.

We always encourage program participants to engage in respectful dialogue when discussing any controversial issues with others.

This is a special community where you will be engaged, challenged and invited to explore topics of significance.

The university also provides a multitude of resources to support the health and wellness of our students:

How does the program suggest faculty members engage with Common Reading themes in the classroom?

Every year, the Common Reading program produces a teaching/learning guide for the selections that offers the UO teaching community some peer-reviewed curricular resources and activities to support students’ engagement. The guides seek to bring forward the book’s major themes and key contexts – along with suggested source materials, concrete activities, and discussion questions. It also raises the meaningful teaching challenges and opportunities that the selections presents.

UO faculty and staff have also produced a wonderful toolkit, “Teaching in Turbulent Times”, that provides a mix of pedagogies, tools, and tips to assist faculty members in addressing controversial topics and bridging disagreement through dialogue in a classroom setting.

Contact the UO Teaching Engagement Program at tep@uoregon.edu or Common Reading Director Julie Voelker-Morris at jvoelker@uoregon.edu for additional resources.