The Summer Reading Program is a collection of events surrounding a common theme to introduce you to the ULM learning community. Read the selected book over the summer as your first university assignment and be prepared to discuss it in freshman English, University Seminar (UNIV 101), and other classes across campus.
The program provides you with:
- Your first common intellectual experience
- An introduction to the university's academic life
- A sense of unity among students, faculty, staff and the community
To Incoming Students
The Assignment
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
- Read it during the summer
- Refer to this site for information about the author, discussion questions, and other resources
- Bring the book with you when you return to campus in August.
- You will use The World is Flat in English and UNIV 101 classes, as well as in other campus-wide events
You will have a UNIV 101 assignment based on the book. A willingness to participate
and take this assignment seriously will provide important benefits to your academic
future. Purchase your book on-line or at your local bookstore.
About the Book
In this brilliant book, the award-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.
About Thomas L. Friedman
Thomas L. Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The New York Times, where he serves as the foreign affairs columnist. He is the author of three previous books, all of them bestsellers: From Beirut to Jerusalem, winner of the National Book Award for nonfiction; The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization; and Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World After September 11. In 2005 The World Is Flat was given the first Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, and Friedman was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family. -provided by Picador