Incoming Stanford Students Sent 3 Books As Essential Reading

PALO ALTO, CA — It is truly the "power of place" talked about in Winifred Gallagher's so-named book that can dictate a person's thoughts and view of the world — just like the stature of higher education can shape our future.

So in late June, Stanford mailed books to more than 1,700 incoming undergraduates for this year’s Three Books program, which serves as an introduction to new students to intellectual life on the farm through the shared experience of reading, thinking about and discussing the same books.

Three books – two in print and one online – were sent to incoming undergraduates to read over the summer and discuss during orientation, Stanford News Service reported.

The packages were sent to first-year and transfer students across the United States and to more than 70 other countries around the world. For the signature reading program, now in its 15th year, a professor selects a theme and carefully curates three books exploring that theme from varied perspectives, the News Service added.

This year, Sarah Billington, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, chose “cities” as the theme, specifically in ways towns shape experiences and social relationships.

“Sixty percent of the world’s population is projected to live in cities by 2030, soon after you graduate,” Billington wrote in a letter to incoming students. “How can we design our growing cities to support belonging, an essential component of well-being?”

This year’s books are "There There," "Silicon City: San Francisco in the Long Shadow of the Valley" and "The Just City Essays: 26 visions for Urban Equity, Inclusivity and Opportunity."