First Year Seminar: Common Text

Each year, Saint Michael’s College chooses a common text to be read and discussed by the incoming class of new students. All first-year students are asked to read the book over the summer prior to arriving on campus. A panel discussion of the book is held during Orientation in late August, and each First-Year Seminar discusses the book at the start of the fall and spring semesters.

The Common Text for Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 will be announced in late Spring. 

Summer Assignment

Students will be asked to write a response to the Common Text. Check your SMC email in early August for your summer writing assignment. It will be sent by your First-Year Seminar instructor and will be due the first week of classes. (Note: Students in spring seminars will get their assignment over the winter break between semesters, but they should still read the book over the summer.)

Three essays by faculty responding to the book will also be posted on the SMC portal by the end of July. You will receive an email informing you when they are available. Your FYS instructor will expect you to have read the essays and may ask you to incorporate responses to them into your own essay about the book.

For more information, contact:
Peter Vantine
Director, First-Year Seminar Program
Associate Professor of Modern Languages
Joyce 155 / Box 276
802.654.2853
pvantine@smcvt.edu

Past First-Year Seminar Common Text Selections