What is the “Common Book?” How is it selected?
While you will enroll in a First-Year Seminar with a particular course title and specialized readings and assignments, all students in your entering class will read a book in common during the semester. Belmont students, staff, and faculty nominate titles each year for the common book, and a committee of veteran First-Year Seminar instructors makes a selection based on these. The common book is one that encapsulates well the theme of “Ways of Knowing”; a book that challenges students to consider how we know what we know, how others may see and know the world differently, and the value of learning to “think outside the box.” We certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with the themes or views presented in the common book. In fact, we hope that you are ready to probe, question, and learn from reading the common book and discussing it with your professor and peers.
