Common Reading Program

Welcome to the Purdue University Common Reading Program homepage!

Mission: to provide a common, academic-based first-year experience for all new students (freshmen and transfers) — an experience that sets high academic expectations for students from the onset of their undergraduate careers.

Book Distribution: Books will be distributed free of charge to all fi rst year and transfer students during the Summer Transition, Advising and Registration (STAR) program in June-July 2012. International students and students unable to attend STAR for extenuating reasons will receive an electronic copy of the book during the same period.

Common Reading Program Assignment: You are expected to read Common Reading Program book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, before you arrive for the start of the fall term. Once you have done this, you should complete the Common Reading Assignment. Additionally, all new undergraduate students are required to attend the Convocation on August 19, 2012, 3:00-4:30pm in Elliott Hall of Music. If you have not done so already, add CRN 41537 to your fall course schedule. 

About the Book: The 2012-13 book will be The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer   

Purdue University instituted the Common Reading Program during the 2009-10 academic year as a way of providing an experience that all incoming Boilermakers could share. Now in its fourth year, the book chosen for new students starting at Purdue in Fall 2012 is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Your assignment is to read it before coming to campus in the fall for Boiler Gold Rush or for classes in the fall.