Welcome to Shepherd University’s Common Reading Program!
This year the non-fiction This I Believe edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman was chosen by faculty, staff and students as the 2011-2012 Common Reading selection. We will be celebrating themes from This I Believe in a number of ways – all of them fun, exciting and educational. Join us on this exciting journey into determining what we and others believe. There are eighty essays in the book with many topics. There is something in this book for everyone to enjoy!
Explore the links on the left side of this webpage for up-to-date information about events throughout the year, both on and off-campus, as we celebrate This I Believe during the 2011-2012 academic year. Residents of Shepherdstown and the surrounding area are welcome and encouraged to attend any of the featured events as part of the One Book, One Community program. All of our events are free except the Common Reading dinner in the Shepherd Dining Hall. This dinner is free to students on the Meal Plan.
The common reading is a required text in many of the First-Year Experience courses as well as other courses in which first year students generally enroll. Desk copies of the book are available to faculty who are using the text in their classes. This I Believe is available for checkout from the Scarborough Library, Shepherdstown Public Library and the four branches of the Martinsburg Library including the Main Library. It is available for purchase from the Shepherd University Bookstore, Four Seasons Bookstore, other local bookstores and online.
This is our fifth year of a common reading at Shepherd University. Past year’s books include in order: “Colored People” by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver and last academic year “Survival of the Prettiest” by Nancy Etcoff.
For more information, contact Judi McIntyre, Director of the First-Year Experience, 304-876-5396 or jmcintyr@shepherd.edu, or visit us on Facebook and Twitter.