Study of college summer reading list creates stir

It looks like summer is already heating up for the college bound.

Fox News says that a new report from The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is creating lots of discussion about the books incoming college freshmen have been asked to read before reporting to the campus this fall.

The NAS study says:

“We found the preponderance of reading assignments promotes liberal social causes and liberal sensibilities. Of the 180 books, 126 (70 percent) either explicitly promote a liberal political agenda or advance a liberal interpretation of events. By contrast, the study identifies only three books (less than 2 percent) that promote a conservative sensibility and none that promote conservative political causes. 51 books (28 percent) are neither liberal nor conservative.”

Right or wrong, those are fighting words. So, it will be interesting to see how this early “summer heat” situation plays out as more becomes known about the books and the reactions of those fledgling college students to their reading assignments.

By the way, three Kentucky schools are listed in the study. Click the Read More link below to learn about the books they want incoming freshmen to read.



The three Kentucky schools on the NAS list include the following:

Northern Kentucky University tells its students to read “This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women.” Per the NAS, the book has a New Age/Spiritual/Philosophy focus.

Eastern Kentucky University’s incoming students are asked to read “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.” The NAS claims this book has a Holocaust/Genocide/War focus and an African theme.

Students inbound to UK are asked to take “Zeitoun” under their belts before arrival. This one has a general Multiculturalism/Immigration/Racism theme along with a focus on Hurricane Katrina.

If you have read these books, I’d appreciate your comments. Do you agree or disagree with the NAS characterizations?

Here’s some background on the NAS. Its web site claims the organization:

“…is an independent membership association of academics working to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities.”

The group says of itself:

“The founders of NAS summoned faculty members from across the political spectrum to help defend the core values of liberal education.

The NAS today is higher education’s most vigilant watchdog. We stand for intellectual integrity in the curriculum, in the classroom, and across the campus—and we respond when colleges and universities fall short of the mark.”

Fox News says critics portray the organization as “Right Wing.” However, it will be the books themselves that ultimately determine if the NAS, or the people who select college reading lists, are out of touch.