Common Reading Selection Committee, 2018-19
Michele Van Hoeck, Co-Chair, Dean of Library
Aparna Sinha, Co-Chair, Culture & Communication
Matthew Fairbanks, Science & Math
Margot Hanson, Library
Mike Holden, Mechanical Engineering
Elaine Kociolek, Student Engagement & Academic Support
Valerie Holl McGowan, Marine Transportation
Ali Moradmand, Science & Math
Amy Parsons, Culture & Communication
Martin Shimada, student
Marissa Sutro, Marine Transportation
More about the Common Reading Program objectives, selection criteria, and finalists
Elizabeth Kolbert's environmental classic Field Notes from a Catastrophe first developed out of a groundbreaking, National Magazine Award-winning three-part series in The New Yorker. She expanded it into a still-concise yet richly researched and damning book about climate change: a primer on the greatest challenge facing the world today.
But in the years since, the story has continued to develop; the situation has become more dire, even as our understanding grows. Now, Kolbert returns to the defining book of her career. She has added a chapter bringing things up-to-date on the existing text, plus three new chapters--on ocean acidification, the tar sands, and a Danish town that's gone carbon neutral--making it, again, a must-read for our moment.