Three Books Archive
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Previous Program Selections
The Three Books program is made possible by the generosity of The Lamsam-Sagan Family Endowed Fund for Undergraduate Education. Over the years, students have been introduced to many themes and authors through this thriving program.
About Three Books
2023
- How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
- System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot, by Stanford professors Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami, and Jeremy Weinstein
- Navalny, a documentary directed by Daniel Roher
2022: Biodiversity with Liz Hadly, Professor of Environmental Biology and Earth System Science
- Animal, Directed by Cyril Dion
- An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us, by Ed Yong
- Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, by Lulu Miller
2021: Perspective, Empathy, and Hope with Shashank Joshi, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- Notes From the Field: Doing Time in Education by Anna Deavere Smith
- Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
- Educated by Tara Westover
- TED Talk, Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- NPR's Hidden Brain Series, Empathy Gym featuring Jamil Zaki
2020: Education & Character (virtual)
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- Selected Readings on Race, Class, and Education by multiple authors
2019: Cities with Sarah Billington, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Silicon City: San Francisco in the Long Shadow of the Valley by Cary McClelland
- There There by Tommy Orange
- The Just City Essays: 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity by multiple authors, edited by Toni L Griffin, Ariella Cohen, David Maddox
2018: Globality & Migration with José David Saldívar, Professor of Comparative Literature
- Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
- Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee
- Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
2017: Sustainability & Equity with Noah Diffenbaugh, Professor of Earth System Science
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
2016: Crisis & Connection with Elizabeth Tallent, Professor of English
- A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit
- We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
- We the Animals by Justin Torres
2015: Resilience with John Hennessy, President of Stanford University
- Cane River by Lalita Tademy
- The Innovators by Walter Isaacson
- This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff
2014: Science with Persis Drell, Dean of the School of Engineering and Professor of Physics
- My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
- Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller
- Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout by Lauren Redniss
2013: Home with Nicholas Jenkins, Associate Professor of English
- First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
- The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
- The Outsourced Self by Arlie Russell Hochschild
2012: What is Art? with Mark Applebaum, Associate Professor of Music
- My Kid Could Paint That video by Michael Kimmelman
- Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural Nörth Daköta by Chuck Klosterman
- Smule app by Ge Wang
2011: Ethical Dilemmas in War and Peace with Scott Sagan, Professor of Political Science
- March by Geraldine Brooks
- One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel Fick
- The Violence of Peace: America’s Wars in the Age of Obama by Stephen Carter
2010: Social Inequities with Debra Satz, Professor of Philosophy
- Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
- The Undesirable Table (From the collection Will You Always Love Me?) by Joyce Carol Oates
2009: Past & Present with Harry Elam, Professor of Drama, & Michele Elam, Professor of English and Program in African and African American Studies
- Hunger by Lan Samantha Chang
- My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story by Abraham Verghese
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
2008: Youth & Self-Identity with Andrea Lunsford, Professor of English
- Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
- One Hundred Demons by Lynda Barry
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2007 with Kenneth Fields, Professor of English
- Good Woman by Lucille Clifton
- Jealous Hearted Me by Nancy Packer
- The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
2006 with Tobias Wolff, Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor of English
- How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
- Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
2005 with Hazel Markus, Professor of Behavioral Sciences
- Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
- M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
- Old School by Tobias Wolff
2004 with Steven J. Zipperstein, Faculty Director of Undergraduate Advising
- Brown by Richard Rodriguez
- Caucasia by Danzy Senna
- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides