2024–2025 Common Read: On Tyranny
“Post-truth is pre-fascism.” – Timothy Snyder
The search for truth is not only an academic exercise, but a foundation of democracy. Autocrats rely
on the spread of misinformation to gain and hold power. Those who wish to undermine democratic
systems deliberately suppress access to history. We find ourselves in a “post-truth” era, in which
democracies across the globe are in decline. As a university community, we must take responsibility
for the role that the exchange of facts and ideas plays in the pursuit of a more equal and just society.
As a starting point, we invite you to read Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century in preparation for our Common Theme, Defending Democracy, and related
conversations in the fall.
Every discipline on campus plays a unique role in shaping our understanding of the world and each
field of study contains a diversity of viewpoints. To study is not to seek confirmation of what you
already know, but to be open to answers to questions you don’t yet know how to ask. This is how
we develop as thinkers, but also how we maintain a free and democratic society. We hope you’ll
keep this in mind as you pursue your major and minor fields. You’ll also have the chance to focus
specifically on these issues in your Freshman Seminars. Using Snyder’s book as a starting point,
these classes and accompanying programming will explore the ways in which learning about history
can help us shape our present and future.
We live in an era not only of widespread distrust in and dissatisfaction with government, but also of
growing socioeconomic inequalities. We know from the violent history of the previous century that
this is precisely the environment in which antidemocratic parties thrive and seize power. It is this
history from which Snyder draws his lessons for our current age, providing the reader with concrete
steps we can take to help uphold democratic values. Perhaps best known for his work Bloodlands:
Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, Timothy Snyder has spent a career studying the murderous regimes
of the last century not simply to catalogue horrors, but to understand how tyranny functions and
how it can be stopped.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we all experienced the anxiety and trauma of an era
“unprecedented” in recent history. The threat we face now does not induce fear because we cannot
know what is at stake; it is terrifying precisely because we know exactly what can happen. We have
clear records of what follows when exclusionist, antidemocratic ideologies take hold, if only we
choose to look. We must not look away from knowledge and truth. Instead, we must fulfill our duty
as a community of learners to face difficult histories, engage with challenging ideas, and respect the
differences that exist in a pluralist democracy.
- Emma Woelk, Associate Professor of German, Director of Honors Program and Global Initiatives
How to Read the Common Text
How to Read the Common Text
One of the most important things we hope to do as a university is create a love of learning in our students, and the first part of that happens with the Freshman Seminar common text, a book we ask you all to read over the summer. Our committee of faculty, staff, and students has chosen On Tyranny as this year’s common text. As you read the common text this summer, don't read as if it is a textbook. There's no need to memorize any facts. Instead, think about the issues On Tyranny raises. Make notes in the margins, mark passages that stand out to you, and write down questions you have. That way you will be well prepared to write about the book this fall and to participate in discussions in class. You will also have opportunities outside of classes to think about the book and the common theme by attending screenings of documentaries, hearing lectures by experts, and going on field trips.
Email alexb@stedwards.edu with any questions about the common text or Freshman Seminar. And again, welcome to St. Edward's.
Alex Barron
Associate Professor, English
Director of Freshman Seminar
Fall 2024 Common Theme Events
More info coming soon
Past Common Theme Events
Fall 2023 Events:
All students participated in an accessibility tour of campus
Sept 7 @ 5:00: Film screening of Crip Camp and discussion led by DSO
Oct 18 @ 6:00: New Directions in Disability Justice with scholar/activists Emily Shryock and Alison Kafer
Fall 2022 Events:
All students went on the Black Austin Tours
Sept 30 @ 5:00: Film Screening and Discussion of Paris is Burning
Oct 26 @ 5:00: Film Screening and Discussion of Get Out
Nov 10-20, These Shining Lives @ the MMNT
Fall 2021 Events:
Sept 29 @ 6:00: Conversation with Stamped author, Jason Reynolds Presentation
Oct 19 @ 5pm Film Screening & Discussion of 13th
Nov 19 @ 5pm Film Screening & Discussion of In the Heights
Fall 2020 Events:
Sept 17 @ 7:30 pm and Sunday, Sept 20 @ 2:00 pm: GIZMO Play reading by Anthony Clavoe Directed by Sierra Sterling ’20
Oct 20 @ 5pm : How Data Can Win (and Lose) the Presidential Election
Presentation and Q&A with Dr. David Thomason, Assistant Professor of Political Science
Oct 26 - Nov 1: A Strange Design: A Haunting Virtual Escape Room in the Age of Data
Presented by Timothy Braun, Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing
Fall 2019 Events:
Sept 16 @ 6:00: What Is Citizenship? A Panel Discussion
September 24 @ 6pm Film Screening: Documented
October 10 @ 7pm: Speaker & Author Jose Antonio Vargas
Nov 14-24 MMNT : Marisol
Nov 20 @ 6:00: Film Screening: Children of Men
Past Common Themes
2023-2024: Accessibility Book: Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century by Alice Wong
2022-2023: Reckoning with History
Book: How The Word is Passed by Clint Smith
2021-2022: Stamped
Book: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
Speaker: Jason Reynolds
2020-2021: Data & Justice
Book: Hello World by Hannah Fry
2019-2020: Immigration
Book: Dear America: Notes From an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
Speaker: Jose Antonio Vargas
2018-2019: Identity
Book: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Speaker: Eli Kimaro
2017- 2018: Immigrant Voices
Book: Detained & Deported: Stories of Immigrant Families Under Fire by Margaret Regan
Speaker: Erika Andiola
2016-2017: Food Justice
Book: Where Am I Eating? by Kelsey Timmerman
Speaker: Kelsey Timmerman
Trip: Costa Rica
Students explore the Common Theme in Just Food
2015-2016: Justice
Book: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Speaker: Bryan Stevenson
Trip: 28 students and three faculty members traveled to South Africa to explore justice, mercy and how these issues relate to race.
2014-2015: Hearts and Minds: Changing the Conversation about Mental Health
Book: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
Speaker: Susannah Cahalan
Trip: London
2013-2014: Expanding Human Rights
Book: Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Speaker: Jackson Katz
Trip: Three students built on their Common Theme trip to Bangladesh by continuing to stand up for human rights.
2012-2013: How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: Dystopias and Sustainability
Book: World War Z by Max Brooks
Speaker: Max Brooks