Common Read

Reading Together, Building Connections, Strengthening Our College Community

 

When you read books, they bring you to different places, they change you, by opening up different experiences and thoughts. That’s what educates you.” – Cathy Germano, Director of Learning Services

Excelsior College’s Common Read program invites students, alumni, faculty, and staff to participate in a shared reading experience that engages our community to better understand topics such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice through many perspectives.

The book for the current Common Read is “My Time Among The Whites” by Jennine Capó Crucet.

“In this sharp and candid collection of essays, critically acclaimed writer and first-generation American Jennine Capó Crucet explores the condition of finding herself a stranger in the country where she was born. Raised in Miami and the daughter of Cuban refugees, Crucet examines the political and personal contours of American identity and the physical places where those contours find themselves smashed: be it a rodeo town in Nebraska, a university campus in upstate New York, or Disney World in Florida. Crucet illuminates how she came to see her exclusion from aspects of the theoretical American Dream, despite her family’s attempts to fit in with white American culture—beginning with their ill-fated plan to name her after the winner of the Miss America pageant.” – [source]
 
You can purchase “My Time Among The Whites” at Excelsior’s online bookstore.
 

Watch the author discuss some of the challenges of being a first-generation college student.

Join Our Virtual Discussion

If you are interested in participating in our Common Read discussions, please register by clicking the links below.

Tuesday, September 13 at 7 p.m. ET

Wednesday, September 14 at 2 p.m. ET

Tuesday, September 22 at 6 p.m. ET

Contact Molly Costello at MCostello@excelsior.edu with any questions.

My Time Among The Whites Book Cover