About the Common Reading Experience
The Common Reading Experience invites Fort Lewis students, faculty, staff and community members to share a common intellectual experience by reading one book.  First year students will be given the book at orientation and several freshmen and other classes will explore themes from the text.  Numerous co-curricular events are scheduled throughout the fall.  Discussion groups, lectures, films and other activities tied to the book's themes will help foster a community of readers.  

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer , the Man Who Would Cure the World written by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder is our second annual Common Reading Experience selection.  It is a compelling account of Dr. Paul Farmer, an infectious disease specialist and anthropologist, who believes access to health care is a basic human right. With limited funding, Farmer established a community based hospital in Haiti where he provides treatment for many Haitians infected with HIV/AIDS and other diseases. His efforts extend to Cuba, Peru and the prisons of Russia where he stemmed the spread of a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis. Farmer's fight against the impact of poverty and injustice is truly inspirational. Colonization, poverty and globalization, infectious disease and modern plagues, sickness and wealth, U.S. participation in Haiti and our responsibility for suffering are a few of the topics that can be explored through Kidder's inspiring text. If you are wondering how one person can make a difference, this book is a must read.  


How Common Reading Experience Books Are Selected
A Campus Reading Board comprised of volunteers from the student body, faculty and administration solicits book suggestions from across campus.  Campus Reading Board members carefully consider each recommendation.  Numerous books are read and discussed in an effort to select one that best suits the goals of the Experience:  to promote critical thinking, provide a common intellectual experience and create a community of readers.


How Do I Find a Copy of the Book?
Copies of Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer , the Man Who Would Cure the World can be purchased at the Fort Lewis College Bookstore. The John F. Reed Library has copies on Reserve that can be borrowed for a period of one month. To determine if copies are available, select Reserves by Course in the library catalog and enter "Common Reading Experience". To borrow a reserve copy, bring your college I.D. to Reed Library's check-out desk.


Recommend a Book
The Campus Reading Board seeks your input for suggestions for a book to share with the campus for the 2007-08 Common Reading Experience. Help us find a book that is engaging, intellectually stimulating and thought provoking. Books that are available in paperback are preferable. We would like to invite the author to campus, so we also hope to find books with authors who are still alive. Please send your book suggestions including the author, title, and one sentence by e-mail to arbeeny_p@fortlewis.edu or mail to Pam Arbeeny, at John F. Reed Library.