2023 Common Read: So You Want to Talk About Race

2023 Common Read: So You Want to Talk About Race

The goal of the Common Read is to engage first-year students with important issues that are central to the human experience, past and present to prepare them to lead in a diverse and ever-changing world. This year’s book was selected by faculty and staff based on recommendations from the campus community. To help readers engage with the text, please peruse through the discussion guides linked below and if you are so inclined, continue reading on this topic with the following suggested titles.

2023 Common Read Introduction & FAQs

Discussion Guides

Anti-Oppression Guide from Simmons University

Talking About Race Guide from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Further Reading

Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Can We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations In An Era Of School Resegregation by Beverly Daniel Tatum

Race Matters by Cornel West

Backlash: What Happens When We Talk Honestly About Racism in America by George Yancy

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter

How to Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

When they call you a terrorist : a Black Lives Matter memoir by Patrisse Cullors and Asha Bandele

The color of law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America by Richard Rothstein

Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America  by Ijeoma Oluo