JSC Announces Common Reading Book for 2013-14: ‘Detroit: An American Autopsy’

May 1, 2013

Incoming first-year students at Johnson State will read and discuss Charlie LeDuff’s Detroit: An American Autopsy as part of the annual common reading experience starting in the fall of 2013.

Copies of the book will be available in mid-May on campus, according to the Common Reading Initiative committee. Students, faculty and staff are invited to read the book over the summer in order to participate in activities and events during the 2013-14 school year. The committee is seeking book discussion leaders for the fall 2013 New Student Orientation.

The committee chose the book because it touches on a wide range of pertinent topics: the American and global economy; class in America and the recession; the role of government, the press, and the citizenry in American democracy; and community building and urban renewal, among others.

Once a thriving metropolis – a true leader in the nation for production, wealth, and opportunity – Detroit is now the nation’s poorest city, leading the nation in unemployment, arson and other social ills. As a Detroit native and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, LeDuff tells the tale of the city’s decline, getting up close and personal with his subject.

The Common Reading Initiative began in 2007 as part of JSC’s emphasis on early student success and getting new students off to a good start. The project is grounded in the belief that a common text gives students a very particular work to hold together from the beginning of the Johnson State College experience. The text also serves as a pad from which to launch a suite of activities and explorations that will color the upcoming year.