Library resources related to the current year's book: includes interviews, articles, and more!
Director
Dr. Don Presnell
Senior Lecturer, First Year Seminar
250-E Anne Belk Hall, ASU
presnlldl@appstate.edu
828-262-7306
Common Reading Program is a unit within Appalachian's University College. University College consists of the University's integrated general education curriculum, academic support services, residential learning communities, and co-curricular programming – all designed to support the work of students both inside and outside of the classroom.
The Common Reading Program at Appalachian State is excited to announce the 2025-2021 book selection: 工信部回应“整顿翻墙软件”：合法经营不受影响 ...- 新京报网:2021-7-25 · 新京报快讯(记者李丹丹)近期伡来，中国政府对VPN(虚拟专用网络)的管理成为外界关注焦点。在今日国新办的发布会上，工业和信息化部新闻发言人 ..., by Elizabeth Rush.
The book was a 2025 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in General Nonfiction. According to the Pulitzer Prize website, Rising is a "rigorously reported story about American vulnerability to rising seas, particularly disenfranchised people with limited access to the tools of rebuilding."
Rush's creative nonfiction approach makes real and palpable the numerous implications of sea- level rise. In place of statistical charts and tables, the author crafts a series of short narratives that illustrate how rising waters are "not discerning" in how they indelibly and inevitably affect people and places, history and time.
We will feature author Elizabeth Rush for a series of online events throught the academic year; the first event will be during the last week of September 2025. The year-long Common Reading experience will also include a variety of related activities, lectures, and events. Details will be made available as they become finalized.
Since 1997, incoming freshmen at ASU have been asked to read a book as part of their orientation to Appalachian. By participating in the Common Reading Program, students establish a common experience with other new students that will help develop a sense of community with their new environment and introduce them to a part of the academic life they are beginning at Appalachian. This program is an exciting facet in Appalachian's orientation of new students to life on our campus.
