College-Wide Reading Program

The College-Wide Reading Program is an initiative intended to provide a common reading that encourages thought, discussion, and collaboration at Delaware County Community College. All members of the College community are invited to participate in related activities throughout the academic year.

2024-2025 Book

The College-Wide Reading Committee has selected “Social Class and Inequality in America” as our theme for the 2024-2025 academic year, and the book we’ll be reading to explore this theme is Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh.

Sarah Smarsh grew up in a working-class family in rural Kansas, and her book, n, is at once a tribute to the earthy resilience and hard-working nature of her family’s life there, and a moving account of her ambition to build a different life for herself and break the cyclical struggles that so often limit the dreams of the working poor. In a narrative addressed to an imaginary daughter she never had, Smarsh reflects on a diverse set of themes with both intimacy and sociological insight, including teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, access to quality health care and education, class-based prejudices, and economic policies that have eroded the American Dream.

Heartland offers a compelling history that is simultaneously personal, familial, and national–one that shows the difficulty in leaving behind the world and people who shaped you in order to become the best version of yourself.

For more information about the book (including how to obtain a copy) or about the College-Wide Reading Program, please contact Professor Matthew Brophy (mbrophy4@dccc.edu), DCCC’s Faculty Fellow for College-Wide Reading.

College-Wide Reading Author Series

A black-and-white portrait of a person with short blonde hair and glasses, holding their sweater collar close to their face.

Jennifer Pashley, novelist and short-story writer, known for suspense fiction, based in Syracuse, NY, will visit us at the Marple Campus on Thursday, October 17, at 10 a.m. (Room 2246, Small Auditorium). Her talk will also be broadcast via Zoom. Her website is jenniferpashley.com.

A person with short hair and glasses, wearing a red t-shirt and denim overalls, standing in a field with mountains in the background.

Stephanie Land is the author of two memoirs—Maid and Class—​which narrate her lived experiences coping with homelessness, domestic violence, low-wage labor, and single motherhood, as well as her simultaneous pursuit of a college degree and a career as a writer. Maid was adapted into a series on Netflix in 2021. Stephanie will visit us via Zoom on Thursday, November 14, at 11 a.m. Her website is stepville.com.

A smiling person with curly hair, wearing an orange shirt, looking directly at the camera.

Nicole Lynn Lewis​ is the author of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families. The book received critical praise from both NPR and the NY Times. Nicole is also the founder and CEO of Generation Hope, a DC-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring “all student parents have the opportunities to succeed and experience economic mobility.” She will visit us via Zoom on Thursday, February 20, 2025, at 11 a.m. Her website is nicolelynnlewis.com.

A person with glasses standing in front of bookshelves, wearing a white shirt and tie, with arms crossed.

Nikhil Goyal is a sociologist, policymaker, and the author of Live to See the Day: Coming of Age in American Poverty, a moving and well-researched account of the lives of three Puerto Rican children, growing up in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. Nikhil will join us via Zoom from his home in Vermont on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 11 a.m. His website is nikhilgoyal.me.

Past Events

  •    2024 College-Wide Reading Essay Contest
  •    Movie Screening and Discussion: Childhood 2.0
  •    What It Means to Be a Bravey: Balancing Ambition with Self-Care
  •    Mental Health through Writing
  •    Suicide Awareness & Prevention
  •    The Weight of Gold: Movie and Discussion
  •    Changing Minds: Stories over Stigma
  •    We Can Fix It: A Climate Conversation with Dr. Kim Nicholas
  •    Getting Beneath the Antarctic Ice with Dr. Atsuhiro Muto
  •    Becoming Weatherwise: Virtual Tour of APS Museum in Philadelphia
  •    Do the Math: The Climate Activism of Bill McKibben
  •    Climate Equity Talk with Hana Creger
  •    Screening and Discussion of “I Am Not Your Negro”
  •    Musical Artist Kendrah Butler-Waters
  •    Philadelphia Poet Yolanda Wisher

About the Program

The goals of the program include

  •    Promoting a habit of reading
  •    Encouraging the exploration of diverse experiences and perspectives
  •    Providing a common discussion point for all members of the College community

Titles selected meet the minimum standards

  •    Readable by our entire population, including developmental and ESL students
  •    Available in paperback
  •    Cross-disciplinary appeal
  •    Ability to be incorporated into curricular and extracurricular activities
  •    Presents diverse or unique perspective

College-Wide Reading Program: Past Selections

book cover with a girl

2023-2024

Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas

By Alexi Pappas

2023-2024

book_cover

2022-2023

Under the Sky We Make

By Kimberly Nicholas, PhD

2022-2023

Under the Sky We Make By Kimberly Nicholas, PhD

2021-2022

Under the Sky We Make

By Kimberly Nicholas, PhD

2021-2022

book cover

2020-2021

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times

Edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

2020-2021

2019-2020

The Secret History of Wonder Woman

Jill Lepore

2019-2020

2018-2019

Stuffed and Starved

By Raj Patel

2018-2019

Just Mercy By Bryan Stephenson

2017-2018

Just Mercy

By Bryan Stephenson

2017-2018

Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa by Rigoberto González

2016-2017

Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa
by Rigoberto González

2016-2017

2015-2016: Garbology by Edward Humes
2013-2014: Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes
2012-2013: Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
2011-2012: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
2010-2011: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
2008-2009: With Courage and Cloth by Ann Bausum and Having Our Say by Sarah L. Delany, A. Elizabeth Delany and Amy Hill Hearth
2007-2008: Flags of Our Fathersby James Bradley (with Ron Powers)
2006-2007: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

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