Next year’s campus read? Here’s how to submit a pick.

Is there a great book on your shelf or must-read list? If so, here’s your chance to share it with the campus community.

The Campus Reading Program, hosted by the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, seeks suggestions from Northwestern students, faculty and staff for the 2027-2028 academic year.

Works across genres will be considered, and a thread of enlightened disagreement should run through any selection. This may be reflected in journalistic reporting, social scientific research, the narrative of a memoir or fictional character development.

Suggestions should include the title, author and an optional explanation for your recommendation. Use the submission form to share your idea by Monday, Nov. 30.

“Research tells us we overestimate our own understanding, from how something works and what someone thinks to our ability to navigate disagreement and elude biases,” said Nour Kteily, faculty co-director of the Litowitz Center and professor of management and organizations in the Kellogg School of Management. “The selection for the Campus Reading Program will chip away at this tendency by exposing readers, especially undergraduates, to characters and stories that raise big questions, reveal meaningful tensions and push them to evaluate more deeply.”

The new Campus Reading Program debuted this year, and Northwestern is reading “Vigil” by George Saunders, an acclaimed short story writer, novelist and creative writing teacher. Saunders has three books on The New York Times’ list of the best books of the 21st century.

Since the selection of “Vigil,” the campus community has participated in fall quarter readathons, themed dinner discussions and even a campus ghost tour. Saunders will visit campus on Thursday, Nov. 19, for a keynote event. Free tickets are available for students, faculty and staff, as well as Evanston community members, through the Norris Box Office.

“In a fractured media environment, we have fewer common touchstones for shared exchange,” said Eli Finkel, faculty co-director of the Litowitz Center, professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and professor of management and organizations in Kellogg. “This social fragmentation is exacerbated by the prevalence of short-term content; it’s hard to engage deeply over a 15-second video that makes it into some feeds but not others. A common read brings the community together for meaningful, shared engagement with a serious text. In the current moment, it’s hard to overstate how exciting that is.”

A selection committee of faculty, staff and Litowitz Center undergraduate fellows will review suggestions, read books during winter quarter and then recommend a selection.

Selection committee members are:

Faculty

• Connor Bain, assistant professor of instruction in computer science
• Tabitha Bonilla, associate professor of human development and social policy and political science
• Brett Gadsden, associate professor of history
• Daisy Hernandez, associate professor of English

Staff

• Maj Kargbo, director of education, Office of Community Enrichment
• Matt Lengen, executive director for Student Transition Experiences, Division of Student Affairs

Students

• Chloe Cohen ’29, viola performance, political science
• Marisol Vasquez Guillena ’28, social policy, biology
• Dillon Scheuer ’27, history, political science

Visit the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement to learn more about the Campus Reading Program, upcoming events and how to get involved.