The Common Read

All new degree-seeking students are eligible to participate in AUP’s Common Read.  

This is a program that aims to foster critical thinking, imagination and debate in and around our Liberal Arts-based community.  

On arrival, students will be presented with a book to read and, as the semester progresses, invited to attend a rich program of informal discussions, seminars and talks by guest speakers. The book will also be used by Student Advisors and Mentors as part of First Year Success workshops. Instructors might also use the book in their First Year academic classes. 

For the 2025-2026 Academic year, the Common Read book is Encounter on the Seine (2024), a volume of essays by the African American writer and activist James Baldwin (1924-1987). Baldwin’s writing reflects on race, sexuality and what it means, as he did, to arrive in France as a foreigner to live and work. 

You’ll be given your own copy of Encounter on the Seine at the Welcome Day when you arrive in Paris. If you’re interested in finding about more about James Baldwin, the Poetry Foundation obituary is a helpful starting point, as is Raoul Peck’s documentary I Am Not Your Negro(2016), which can be found on many streaming platforms, including Netflix. You might also be interested in reading one of Baldwin’s novels: Giovanni’s Room (1956) would be an excellent starting point.