Beach Books: 2016–2017 Books: Beach
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Beach Books: 2016–2017 What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? Beach Books: 2016–2017 Beach Books: DAVID RANDALL NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS MAY 2017 BEACH BOOKS: 2016–2017 What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? May 2017 DAVID RANDALL © 2017 National Association of Scholars ISBN: 978-0-9986635-2-4 Cover image: Eskemar/Shutterstock ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS Mission The National Association of Scholars is an independent membership association of academics and others working to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities. We uphold the standards of a liberal arts education that fosters intellectual freedom, searches for the truth, and promotes virtuous citizenship. What We Do We publish a quarterly journal, Academic Questions, which examines the intellectual controversies and the institutional challenges of contemporary higher education. We publish studies of current higher education policy and practice with the aim of drawing attention to weaknesses and stimulating improvements. Our website presents a daily stream of educated opinion and commentary on higher education and archives our research reports for public access. NAS engages in public advocacy to pass legislation to advance the cause of higher education reform. We file friend-of-the-court briefs in legal cases, defending freedom of speech and conscience, and the civil rights of educators and students. We give testimony before congressional and legislative committees and engage public support for worthy reforms. NAS holds national and regional meetings that focus on important issues and public policy debates in higher education today. Membership NAS membership is open to all who share a commitment to its core principles of fostering intellectual freedom and academic excellence in American higher education. A large majority of our members are current and former faculty members. We also welcome graduate and undergraduate students, teachers, college administrators, and independent scholars, as well as non-academic citizens who care about the future of higher education. NAS members receive a subscription to our journal Academic Questions and access to a network of people who share a commitment to academic freedom and excellence. We offer opportunities to influence key aspects of contemporary higher education. Visit our website, www.nas.org, to learn more about NAS and to become a member. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Beach Books report builds upon previous editions written primarily by Ashley Thorne, but with significant material by Peter Wood. It has also benefitted from editing by Rachelle Peterson, Ashley Thorne, and Peter Wood. I am deeply grateful to have had so much to build on, and to have such expert pairs of eyes to improve my first draft. Many donors to and members of the National Association of Scholars made this project possible by their generous support. The National Association of Scholars corporately, and I personally, am grateful to them all. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ................................................................4 Table of Contents .................................................................5 Executive Summary ...............................................................8 Introduction ..................................................................8 The Continuing Characteristics ...............................................10 Common Reading Programs ...............................................10 Common Readings .........................................................11 The Facts: Common Readings, 2016-2017 .....................................12 Recommendations............................................................13 Methods .........................................................................15 What We Included............................................................15 How We Categorized the Institutions and Programs...........................15 How We Categorized the Books ...............................................15 Classification Elements .......................................................16 Institutions ......................................................................17 Types.........................................................................17 Locations.....................................................................17 Rankings . .18 Readings at Elite Institutions: A Note .........................................19 Common Readings, 2016-2017................................................... 20 Intended Readers ........................................................... 20 Standard Assignments....................................................... 20 Non-Standard Assignments...................................................21 Genres .......................................................................23 Publication Dates.............................................................24 Subject Categories ............................................................26 Themes.......................................................................29 What’s Different This Year................................................... 30 Most Widely Assigned Books................................................. 30 Predictability .................................................................32 New Predictions ..............................................................33 Bob Dylan .................................................................33 Donald Trump .............................................................33 Johnson and Taylor ........................................................34 Honorable Mentions..........................................................35 Common Reading Programs..................................................... 38 Administrative Background.................................................. 38 Mixed Mission Statements ................................................... 40 Lowered Standards ...........................................................43 Politicized Interpretation of Non-Academic Goals............................ 44 Politicized Mission Statements ...............................................45 Politicized Selection Motives................................................. 48 Leading Questions, Language that Assumes an Answer....................... 50 Obscured Political Commitments .............................................53 Associated Materials..........................................................55 Committee Composition ......................................................61 Committee Size...............................................................63 Activism Goals............................................................... 64 Pledges ....................................................................65 Co-Curricular Activities, Service-Learning, and Civic Engagement ......... 66 Courses................................................................... 69 Support of Outside Programs ............................................. 69 The Lack of Fiction ...........................................................70 Non-Academic Assignments ..................................................72 Better Choices, Voluntary Common Readings, and Faculty “Buy-In”...........73 Local Selections ..............................................................74 Budgetary Implications.......................................................76 Interviews....................................................................79 Texas State University (Texas), Twister Marquiss, Director of Common Reading Program ......................................................... 80 The University of Akron (Ohio), Nino Colla, Assistant Director, New Student Orientation ...................................................... 82 West Virginia University (West Virginia), Susan Jennings Lantz, Chair of the WVU Campus Read, Director of the Business Learning Resource Center, Assistant Professor in Marketing.......................................... 83 Recommendations .............................................................. 86 General Selection Principles ................................................. 86 Mission Statements...........................................................87 Faculty Management I: Make Common Readings Curricular.................. 89 Faculty Management II: Curricular and “Co-Curricular” Common Readings ...91 Program Structure ...........................................................92 Donors . .93 Institutions of Higher Education..............................................93 Some Arguments for the Status Quo ......................................... 94 Appendix I: Common Reading Selections 2016-2017: Full List by Institution Name ...95 Appendix II: Titles by Subject Category, 2016-2017...............................132 Appendix III: Recommended Books for College Common Reading Programs .....147 80 Recommended Books Appropriate For Any College Common Reading Program............................................................148 30 Recommended Books For More Ambitious College Common Reading Programs...........................................................168 Memoirs ....................................................................174 Young Protagonists..........................................................175 Science Fiction ..............................................................176