2023–2024 Common Read: Disability Visibility
“Disabled people have always existed, whether the word disability is used or not. To me, disability is not a monolith, nor is it a clear-cut binary of disabled and nondisabled. Disability is mutable and ever-evolving. Disability is both apparent and non apparent. Disability is pain, struggle, brilliance, abundance, and joy.”
Disability rights are human rights. Almost every person in the world has been impacted by disability in some way. If you think you haven’t, you aren’t looking closely enough. Yet even though any person can become disabled at any point in their life, disability is still stigmatized and marginalized. Disabled identities are rarely celebrated with pride, and conversations around equal access are often shoved to the side. Abled bodies, minds, and experiences control the narrative around what is a life worth living.
Disability Visibility, an anthology of disabled experiences and voices, edited by activist Alice Wong, offers an alternative view of reality. In Disability Visibility, creators come together to show us how disability is the future. In a time where the Americans with Disabilities Act has recognized post-covid syndrome as a disability, acceptance of disability and a fight for equal rights is more relevant than ever.
St. Edward’s University and its students have a role to play in deciding how we value accessibility, now, on the dawn of this new age of disability awareness and justice. Regardless of your experience with disability, we hope that Disability Visibility will expand your view of disability and disabled people as a vibrant and resilient community that we can all stand to learn from. We are excited to welcome the St. Edward’s University Class of 2027 and challenge you to be introspective throughout your time here.
Sincerely,
Lys Royon and Esther Heymans
St. Edward’s University Class of 2023 and 2024

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 Disability Visibility 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 Disability Visibility 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 2023 Common Theme Events
More info coming soon
Past Common Theme Events
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
2022-2023: How Word is Passed
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