Teenage brains aren’t broken, they’re ready to flourish
March 6, 2026
Northwestern has launched a new initiative to bring the community together in exploration and discussion of the same book.
The Campus Reading Program will be hosted by the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement. Carrying on the tradition of One Book One Northwestern, the new program will explore a range of topics.
A thread of enlightened disagreement will run through book selections with genres ranging from fiction and memoir to science and the humanities.
The inaugural selection for the 2026-2027 academic year will be unveiled in the coming weeks, along with details about related campus programming, including a keynote visit by the author, and opportunities for discussion.
“The Campus Reading Program carries on the tradition of bringing our community together through a shared text while enhancing it with an additional purpose of promoting engagement across difference,” Provost Kathleen Hagerty said.
The inaugural selection will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Although the new program is designed primarily for incoming first-year and transfer students as they transition into Northwestern life, all students, faculty and staff are invited to read and participate.
“The Campus Reading Program will introduce many members of the campus community to the concept of enlightened disagreement and the Litowitz Center’s work,” said Nour Kteily, faculty co-director of the Litowitz Center. “In particular, we hope our book selections and associated events will get new students excited about our residential certificate program.”
This fall, the Northwestern community will be invited to submit their own nominations for the 2027-2028 academic year, which will be considered by a committee that will make recommendations to Kteily and Litowitz Center faculty co-director Eli Finkel.
