Beach Books: 2014-2016
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BEACH BOOKS: 2014-2016 What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? February 2016 A report by the National Association of Scholars BEACH BOOKS: 2014-2016 What Do Colleges and Universities Want Students to Read Outside Class? February 2016 DAVID RANDALL © 2016 National Association of Scholars 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 Tessa Carter, Rachelle Peterson, Crystal Plum, Marilee Turscak, and Peter Wood. This edition follows much of the structure of previous reports, and incorporates significant amounts of their actual wording. (Particularly in Appendix IV, Recommended Books for College Common Reading Programs.) It has also benefitted from editing by Madison Iszler, Rachelle Peterson, Glenn Ricketts, 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. Research for this report was conducted by Joshua Bridges, Madison Iszler, Dan Kemp, Aaron Mikat, John Sailer, and Marilee Turscak. I am also deeply grateful to all these researchers for their labor, their diligence, and (a particular boon to someone who is not intimately familiar with Excel) their way with spreadsheets. Prof. David Clemens, Prof. Kenneth G. Elzinga, Prof. Herbert London, Mr. and Ms. Michael and Joy Millette, the van Swaay Charitable Foundation, and other 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 Executive Summary ...............................................................6 The Findings . 6 The Facts ......................................................................7 The Characteristics ............................................................7 Recommendations.............................................................8 Foreword by Peter Wood .........................................................10 Mechanics of Common Reading Programs........................................11 Program Goals ...............................................................12 Mandatory or Optional? ......................................................13 For Freshmen or for All Students? ............................................15 Author Speaking? ............................................................16 Who Chooses the Books ......................................................18 Names........................................................................19 Social Media................................................................. 20 Yearlong Themes .............................................................23 Sponsor Commitments .......................................................25 Marketing the Books: The Development of the Common Reading Genre .......25 Advertising Copy .............................................................27 Authors ......................................................................31 Purposes of Common Reading Programs .........................................32 Timely Propaganda ...........................................................35 Do Common Reading Programs Work? .......................................36 Barriers to Choosing Better Books ............................................37 Controversies ................................................................37 Trigger Warnings............................................................ 38 Methods .........................................................................39 What We Included............................................................39 How We Categorized the Books .............................................. 40 The Books . .42 Most Widely-Assigned Books .................................................42 The Other Wes Moore ........................................................43 Publication Dates.............................................................43 Genres .......................................................................47 Subject Categories ............................................................47 Themes.......................................................................52 What’s Different These Last Two Years........................................54 Honorable Mentions..........................................................54 The Colleges .....................................................................55 Type..........................................................................56 Rankings . .57 Readings at Elite Institutions .................................................57 Analysis: The Status Quo .........................................................59 Recommendations ...............................................................61 Alternatives......................................................................65 The Public Domain Alternative ...............................................65 The Modern Classics Alternative ............................................. 66 The Mature Alternative . 66 The No-Memoirs Alternative..................................................67 Conclusion.......................................................................72 Afterword by Peter Wood ........................................................73 Appendix I: Common Reading Selections 2014-2015: Full List by Institution Name .........76 Appendix II: Common Reading Selections 2015-2016: Full List by Institution Name .......114 Appendix III: Titles by Subject Category, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 .....................150 Appendix IV: Recommended Books for College Common Reading Programs ..............173 60 Recommended Books Appropriate for Any College Common Reading Program..........................................................174 20 Recommended Books for More Ambitious College Common Reading Programs.........................................................190 Shorter Suggestions . .195 Pushing-the-Envelope Suggestions.......................................... 202 Appendix V: Linda Hall: You Read Your Book and I’ll Read Mine....................... 207 Appendix VI: Bruce Gans: On Beach Books ..........................................211 Appendix VII: Ashley Thorne: Yes, You Can—Pick Better Books.........................216 6 | BEACH BOOKS: 2014-2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hundreds of American colleges and universities continue to assign a summer reading to entering freshmen—typically one book, which the students are asked to read outside their courses. Many institutions embed the common reading in a larger program of campus activities: typically, they invite the common reading author to help open the academic year by speaking on campus at convocation. The book usually is chosen by a committee or by student vote, although occasionally by presidential or decanal fiat. The book sometimes is associated with a larger school theme for the academic year, such as Hesston College’s (Kansas) “Be the Change: Caring that Matters.” On other occasions it is associated with an administrative sponsor within the university, such as its Office of Diversity, and thus is selected to promote that sponsor’s institutional mandate. Colleges devote substantial administrative resources to supporting the common reading programs: librarians write