First-year and transfer students are encouraged to read the same book, creating a foundation for ongoing discussion. This year’s inaugural pick: Orbital by Samantha Harvey
There’s nothing quite like chatting with a new classmate or roommate and discovering that you have something in common—a shared experience, a similar interest, something that becomes a shortcut to friendship. These threads of community can make a big new place such as Boston University suddenly feel more comfortable and more familiar.
To foster these kinds of connections, BU is launching a new program this year: the Boston University Common Read. All first-year and new transfer students are encouraged to read the same book—the Booker Prize–winning novel Orbital, by Samantha Harvey—creating the foundation for ongoing discussion (and a new campus tradition).
The book selection, guided with leadership from BU Libraries, is one that University officials hope will resonate with new students, who find themselves in a new place. Harvey’s novel follows six astronauts and cosmonauts circling Earth in the International Space Station as they travel together through one day far above Earth, separated from, and yet still connected to, the planet and relationships they left behind. Harvey balances the often mundane tasks of daily life and staying alive aboard the spacecraft with the beauty and fragility of the travelers’ home below.
Boston University Common Read is a great new way to connect the BU community. Video by Nick Rocca
“I’m pleased that our University librarians chose Orbital, an insightful meditation on the nature of life, relationships, time, loss, and the beauty and the brevity of human life, as the first book in our new Common Read program here at BU,” says BU President Melissa Gilliam. “Through the shared commitment and ambitions of these six astronauts from across the world, bound together by mission in outer space, this novel reminds us of the commonalities and differences that comprise a diverse community like our own.”
A team from BU Libraries reviewed books from a list of suggested titles, each member reading several books, says Mark Newton, BU university librarian. The group then met for weeks to discuss their thoughts about the suggested titles and the various advantages and disadvantages of each selection. After careful review, they submitted a final book recommendation to University leadership.
“Our review considered how a book’s themes might connect with experiences of students entering college and how well it laid the foundation for discussion around the questions and aspirations that undergird so much of the research and learning we do in our time at the university,” Newton says. “Importantly, we wanted to recommend a book that would resonate with readers because of its relatability and timeliness and that could foster connection across the whole University community. Even though we don’t bring direct experience with space travel to our reading, I think Orbital meets these goals well through the range of perspectives, experiences, and concerns that Harvey packs into the telling.
First-year and transfer students can receive free digital copies of Orbital through a partnership with Barnes & Noble @ Boston University; they have until September 21 to request their free copy.
For students beginning their journey at BU, Orbital offers “a shared starting point—a reminder that perspective changes everything,” says Jason Campbell-Foster, BU dean of students.
“Set far above the Earth, it invites us to see our world, and one another, with fresh eyes. In a time when it is easy to feel divided, the book asks us to notice the fragile beauty of our shared home and the connections that bind us together,” he says. “It’s a meditation on curiosity, responsibility, and what it means to be a part of something larger than ourselves. This is the spirit I hope you [students] carry into your first year: the willingness to step back and see the bigger picture, to recognize that the people you meet and the challenges you face are part of a much wider orbit of learning and growth.”
While the program was designed with the newest members of Boston University in mind, Common Read is open to all faculty, staff, and students. Mugar Memorial Library has extra copies of the book on its shelves, and physical copies are also available for purchase at the BU Campus Store. Events related to the book are being planned for the spring semester, University officials say. “
Last year, the University launched an initiative called Living Our Values, to surface and then provide a space to reflect upon those values that unite us as a community, across our campuses, and inclusive of our more than 450,000 living alumni worldwide,” Gilliam says. “Orbital offers our students an additional, thought-provoking entry point for this ongoing project, in the context of a work about what it means to be human in a changing, global world. I can’t wait to hear their thoughts and ideas.”
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