Common Reads: First-Year Experience

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Selected to captivate the minds of readers and inspire participation in engaging group conversations, Harvard University Press’s “Common Reads: First-Year Experience” collection aims to bolster a feeling of community within an assembly of scholars.

Peruse our brochure, Common Reads: First Year Experience, to find recommended books along with suggested prompts for in-class discussion.
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For further recommendations for your classroom or organization, contact:

In North and South America: Jenn Harrington ([Email Address])
Beyond North and South America: Rebekah White ([Email Address])

Featured Titles

Cover: What the Best College Students Do, by Ken Bain, from Harvard University Press

What the Best College Students Do

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Cover: Lessons from Plants, by Beronda L. Montgomery, from Harvard University Press

Lessons from Plants

Beronda L. Montgomery

Cover: The Origin of Others, by Toni Morrison, with a Foreword by Ta-Nehisi Coates, from Harvard University Press

The Origin of Others

Toni Morrison, with a Foreword by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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Cover: Memory Speaks: On Losing and Reclaiming Language and Self, by Julie Sedivy, from Harvard University Press

Memory Speaks: On Losing and Reclaiming Language and Self

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Cover: The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students, by Anthony Abraham Jack, from Harvard University Press

The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students

Anthony Abraham Jack

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Cover: Unflattening, by Nick Sousanis, from Harvard University Press

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Cover: Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels, by Catherine A. Sanderson, from Harvard University Press

Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels

Catherine A. Sanderson

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Cover: Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote, by Susan Ware, from Harvard University Press

Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

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Cover: Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel, from Harvard University Press

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel

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Cover: The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights, by William F. Schulz and Sushma Raman, from Harvard University Press

The Coming Good Society: Why New Realities Demand New Rights

William F. Schulz and Sushma Raman

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Cover: The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It, by Yascha Mounk, from Harvard University Press

The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It

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Cover: Voice, Choice, and Action: The Potential of Young Citizens to Heal Democracy, by Felton Earls and Mary Carlson, from Harvard University Press

Voice, Choice, and Action: The Potential of Young Citizens to Heal Democracy

Felton Earls and Mary Carlson

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Cover: The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, With a New Preface, by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, from Harvard University Press

The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America, With a New Preface

Khalil Gibran Muhammad

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Cover: Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, by Kathleen Belew, from Harvard University Press

Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America

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Cover: Racism in America: A Reader, with a Foreword by Annette Gordon-Reed, from Harvard University Press

Racism in America: A Reader

With a Foreword by Annette Gordon-Reed

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Cover: On Not Being Someone Else: Tales of Our Unled Lives, by Andrew H. Miller, from Harvard University Press

On Not Being Someone Else: Tales of Our Unled Lives

Andrew H. Miller

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Cover: From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way, by Michael Bond, from Harvard University Press

From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way

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Cover: Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive, by Mark L. Winston, from Harvard University Press

Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive

Mark L. Winston

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Cover: Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures, by Caleb Everett, from Harvard University Press

Numbers and the Making of Us: Counting and the Course of Human Cultures

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Cover: Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom, by James Danckert and John D. Eastwood, from Harvard University Press

Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom

James Danckert and John D. Eastwood

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Cover: Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing, by Françoise Baylis, from Harvard University Press

Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing

Françoise Baylis

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Cover: Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds, by Richard J. Light, from Harvard University Press

Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds

Richard J. Light

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Cover: The End of Forgetting: Growing Up with Social Media, by Kate Eichhorn, from Harvard University Press

The End of Forgetting: Growing Up with Social Media

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A Conversation with Elizabeth Cobbs about Fearless Women

For Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the work of Elizabeth Cobbs, whose new book Fearless Women shows how the movement for women’s rights has been deeply entwined with the history of the United States since its founding. Cobbs traces the lives of pathbreaking women who, inspired by American ideals, fought for the cause in their own ways…

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