University of Wisconsin, Marathon County Selects Deep Economy for Shared Reading

The 2009-2010 Shared Reading title at the University of Wisconsin, Marathon County is Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. The book was selected by a committee of faculty and university administrators with the theme “Building Community” in mind.

Three years ago, when the Shared Reading theme was “Affluenza,” author Bill McKibben gave a capstone address on campus and the committee was eager to revisit McKibben’s work.  The school has enthusiastically incorporated his book into the curriculum and campus programming this year.

UW, Marathon County’s goal is to have each student to encounter the book in at least one course this year. The Shared Reading program committee has planned programming—speakers, panels, workshops, competitions—that will engage students, faculty and the statewide University of Wisconsin community throughout the academic year.

Several staff members associated with the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, which is based on the Marathon County campus, have written grants to support programming and expand the impact of the Shared Reading experience.

In recent years, Deep Economy has been adopted for similar common reading programs at Ohio Wesleyan University, RIT, and University of Texas, Arlington.

Bill McKibben is the author of five books published by Henry Holt, including Eaarth (available April 2010).