If there is one thing this year’s University of Alaska Southeast freshmen have in common it’s a single book. It’s called “Mixed,” a collection of essays written by undergraduates about life as a multiracial college student. The book is part of the university’s One Campus, One Book program where all incoming freshman are assigned a common book that will be used in class and lecture discussion throughout their first year.
The book’s value goes well beyond another selection on a freshman’s reading list, or an item for a class review and mid‐term paper. It’s used for broad, yearlong ongoing talks crossing multiple classroom disciplines. In reading “Mixed,” students essentially hear from their peers who attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The students who produced the essays may not fit “squarely in a known racial category.” The book gives UAS professors flexibility of assigning the entire book or selected essays, then migrate to recommended readings.
Elise Tomlinson, UAS regional library director at Egan Library, said the selection is well‐timed and well‐placed. “It’s very relevant because there is a lot happening on our campus — it’s happening all around the country — to try and address issues of social justice,” Tomlinson said. “Of course, many don’t know this, but our school sits on indigenous lands. The fact that we are looking at issues related to colonialism on our campus. We are trying to deal with these bigger concepts and have difficult discussions. This is one way the books bring students together while they learn something about themselves.”
Selection process
A three‐person selection committee chooses books based on several guidelines such as: how well the book matches program goals – integration into curriculum; reaches interdisciplinary perspectives; commensurate to freshman reading level; the book won’t have likely been a high school assignment; it’s available in paperback and thus affordable under increasingly shrinking university budgets.
The three‐person panel features committee chair Jonas Lamb, assistant professor of library science; Lisa Richardson, assistant professor of education; and Richard Simpson, assistant professor of humanities.
Work already is underway for next year’s selection. Richardson, now in her third year with the university said the process begins by whittling down a list provided by publishing companies, who work nationally with universities on common book programs. Recommendations also come from students and faculty. Once the committee has reduced the list to a workable number, each member reads between five and seven books and brings recommendations back to the committee for final section.
Richardson said the program reflects a national trend to address tough — and often divisive — discussions that start with a common book title. “I think there is a consistent benefit,” Richardson said. “We see it across the nation, having these shared literary experiences. A shared experience around any kind of text is key among faculty, staff and students. A text that can ground people in a common conversation.”
Even as Richardson teaches graduate work, the book value has reach greater than a freshman class of about 175 students. In the spring semester she plans to include “Mixed” in her graduate student curriculum.
“For me, where I am with my students, this is accessible,” Richardson said. “Even though this is about undergraduate experiences, this is still interesting to them. It gives them a way to look at how they might have tough conversations.”
Program origins
The program began in 2010 under supervision of former library faculty Wendy Girven, looking to create a shared experience for incoming freshman. At the time many university librarians worked with book publishers to increase reading beyond traditional textbooks on college campuses. Tomlinson said former Chancellor John Pugh found money to fund the program. After two successful years, it was folded into the university’s library budget and oversight.
The first book was “Listening is an Act of Love” by David Isay. Since then titles have ranged from a rare fiction selection, John Steinbeck’s “Log from the Sea” in 2014 to “Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir,” a local favorite written by UAS faculty Ernestine Hayes. “Blonde Indian” went on to become a selection for the inaugural statewide Alaska Reads.
Other titles include: “At the Mouth of the River of Bees” by Kij Johnson; “Being Caribou” by Karsten Heur; “The Truth About Stories” by Thomas King. The readings include activities that bring the freshmen as well as other students, faculty and community members, together for discussion.
Christina Gomez, one of three editors of “Mixed, will be on campus early November to help drive that discussion. While at UAS, she will visit several classes She gave a talk on undocumented students at the university’s Power and Privilege Symposium, and delivered a keynote lecture on this year’s theme, “Negotiating Identity in America” at the Egan Library.
