2024-2025年常读: On Tyranny
“后真相是前法西斯主义.——蒂莫西·斯奈德
The search for truth is not only an academic exercise, but a foundation of democracy. Autocrats rely
on the spread of misinformation to gain and hold power. Those who wish to undermine democratic
systems deliberately suppress access to history. We find ourselves in a “post-truth” era, in which
democracies across the globe are in decline. As a university community, we must take responsibility
for the role that the exchange of facts and ideas plays in the pursuit of a more equal and just society.
As a starting point, we invite you to read Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century in preparation for our Common Theme, Defending Democracy, and related
秋天的对话.
Every discipline on campus plays a unique role in shaping our understanding of the world and each
field of study contains a diversity of viewpoints. To study is not to seek confirmation of what you
already know, but to be open to answers to questions you don’t yet know how to ask. This is how
we develop as thinkers, but also how we maintain a free and democratic society. We hope you’ll
keep this in mind as you pursue your major and minor fields. You’ll also have the chance to focus
specifically on these issues in your Freshman Seminars. Using Snyder’s book as a starting point,
these classes and accompanying programming will explore the ways in which learning about history
can help us shape our present and future.
We live in an era not only of widespread distrust in and dissatisfaction with government, but also of
growing socioeconomic inequalities. We know from the violent history of the previous century that
this is precisely the environment in which antidemocratic parties thrive and seize power. It is this
history from which Snyder draws his lessons for our current age, providing the reader with concrete
steps we can take to help uphold democratic values. Perhaps best known for his work Bloodlands:
Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, Timothy Snyder has spent a career studying the murderous regimes
of the last century not simply to catalogue horrors, but to understand how tyranny functions and
怎样才能阻止它呢.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we all experienced the anxiety and trauma of an era
“unprecedented” in recent history. The threat we face now does not induce fear because we cannot
know what is at stake; it is terrifying precisely because we know exactly what can happen. We have
clear records of what follows when exclusionist, antidemocratic ideologies take hold, if only we
choose to look. We must not look away from knowledge and truth. Instead, we must fulfill our duty
as a community of learners to face difficult histories, engage with challenging ideas, and respect the
differences that exist in a pluralist democracy.
Dr. Emma Woelk, Associate Professor of German, Director of Honors Program & 全球计划
How to Read the Common Text
How to Read the Common Text
One of the most important things we hope to do as a university is create a love of learning in our students, and the first part of that happens with the Freshman Seminar common text, a book we ask you all to read over the summer. Our committee of faculty, staff, and students has chosen On Tyranny as this year’s common text. As you read the common text this summer, don't read as if it is a textbook. There's no need to memorize any facts. Instead, think about the issues On Tyranny raises. Make notes in the margins, mark passages that stand out to you, and write down questions you have. That way you will be well prepared to write about the book this fall and to participate in discussions in class. You will also have opportunities outside of classes to think about the book and the common theme by attending screenings of documentaries, hearing lectures by experts, 去实地考察.
Email alexb@ngskmc-eis.net with any questions about the common text or Freshman Seminar. 再次欢迎来到圣. Edward's.
Alex Barron
Associate Professor, English
Director of Freshman Seminar
Fall 2024 Common Theme Events
更多信息即将发布
过去的共同主题活动
2023秋季活动:
All students participated in an accessibility tour of campus
Sept 7 @ 5:00: Film screening of Crip Camp 以及由DSO领导的讨论
Oct 18 @ 6:00: New Directions in Disability Justice with scholar/activists Emily Shryock and Alison Kafer
2022年秋季活动:
所有的学生都去了 黑奥斯汀之旅
Sept 30 @ 5:00: Film Screening and Discussion of Paris is Burning
Oct 26 @ 5:00: Film Screening and Discussion of Get Out
2021秋季
Sept 29 @ 6:00: Conversation with Stamped author, Jason Reynolds Presentation
Oct 19 @ 5pm Film Screening & Discussion of 13th
Nov 19 @ 5pm Film Screening & Discussion of In the Heights
2020秋季活动:
Sept 17 @ 7:30 pm and Sunday, Sept 20 @ 2:00 pm: GIZMO Play reading by Anthony Clavoe Directed by Sierra Sterling ’20
Oct 20 @ 5pm : How Data Can Win (and Lose) the Presidential Election
演示和Q&A with Dr. David Thomason, Assistant Professor of 政治科学
Oct 26 - Nov 1: A Strange Design: A Haunting Virtual Escape Room in the Age of Data
Presented by Timothy Braun, Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing
2019秋季活动:
Sept 16 @ 6:00: What Is Citizenship? 小组讨论
September 24 @ 6pm Film Screening: Documented
10月10日晚上7点:演讲嘉宾 & Author 何塞·安东尼奥·巴尔加斯
Nov 14-24 MMNT : Marisol
Nov 20 @ 6:00: Film Screening: Children of Men
过往常见主题
2023-2024: Accessibility Book: Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century by Alice Wong
2022-2023: Reckoning with History
Book: 这个词是如何传递的 by Clint Smith
2021 - 2022:盖章
Book: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You 作者:Jason Reynolds
主讲人:Jason Reynolds
2020-2021: Data & Justice
Book: Hello World by Hannah Fry
2019 - 2020:移民
Book: Dear America: Notes From an Undocumented Citizen 何塞·安东尼奥·巴尔加斯著
Speaker: 何塞·安东尼奥·巴尔加斯
2018 - 2019:身份
Book: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
演讲者:Eli Kimaro
2017- 2018: Immigrant Voices
Book: Detained & Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire 玛格丽特·里根
演讲者:Erika Andiola
2016-2017:食品公正
Book: 我在哪里吃饭?? 凯尔西·蒂默曼著
Speaker: Kelsey Timmerman
Trip: Costa Rica
Students explore the Common Theme in Just Food
2015 - 2016:正义
Book: Just Mercy 布莱恩·史蒂文森
演讲嘉宾:布莱恩·史蒂文森
Trip: 28 students and three faculty members traveled to South Africa to explore justice, mercy and how these issues relate to race.
2014-2015: Hearts and Minds: Changing the Conversation about Mental Health
Book: Brain on Fire 苏珊娜·卡哈兰著
主讲人:苏珊娜·卡哈兰
Trip: London
2013-2014: Expanding Human Rights
Book: Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
主讲人:Jackson Katz
Trip: Three students built on their Common Theme trip to Bangladesh by continuing to stand up for human rights.
2012-2013: How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Dystopias and Sustainability
Book: World War Z by Max Brooks
主讲人:Max Brooks