Shared Texts
from NCTE INBOX 7-26-11
Reading or listening to the same text usually starts in elementary school when the teacher reads aloud. Later in school, students read the same text for literature circles or books. Fast-forward to college and this can look very different when the whole campus community comes together around one text. The idea of “One Campus, One Book” is growing across the country. Many colleges and universities are taking part, with participants engaging in book discussion sessions and attending scholarly lectures on the book or related topics. Activities often include a visit by the author, exhibits, related arts programming, and integration into school curricula.
The University of Mississippi shares its plans for making a collaborative effort to unite a large number of its students, faculty, and staff during the upcoming academic year by reading the same book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Skloot is the speaker for the CEE Luncheon at the NCTE Annual Convention in Chicago).
Last year, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came together to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Eggers’ 826 Valencia writing program for students ages 6-18 and their teachers won the NCTE Literacy Award in 2003.
Eva Payne, from the TYCA-Pacific Northwest regional group of two-year college educators, shares her college’s plan for reading a shared text in this article (see pages 4-5).
What is your experience with “One Campus, One Book”? What works? What doesn’t? What texts have been selected? What are the roadblocks? Do you feel this idea creates community? Does something like this keep students (and others) reading at a time when maybe they don’t read as much for fun as younger students do? Share your thoughts and experiences here.
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