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Archive Page for Nickel and Dimed, CSUN's Freshman Common Reading for 2008-2009

More about the book

Announcement and the other finalists for 2008-2009

Barbara Ehrenreich's home page

Freshman common reading programs at other universities

Resources for teaching Nickel and Dimed

Selection criteria

Who chose this book?

What will CSUN freshmen read in 2009-2010?

The Soloist by Steve Lopez!

What other books were considered?

Who chose the book for 2009-2010?

Selection criteria

What books are other campuses reading?

Archive

2007-2008 Freshman Common Reading Website for The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Campus Events

Nov. 19, 2008 (Wednesday):

Freshman Celebration, USU Grand Salon: UNIV 100 Food Drive to Benefit MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity), 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Clothing and craft supplies for children also welcome. Can't make it? Donations may be dropped until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, in Sierra Hall 443 (CIELO suite): 818.677.5935.

Nov. 14 & 15 (Fri./Sat.):

CSUN's Little Theatre, 8 p.m.: Fifteen Cents, a performance about class issues in the specific Los Angeles area. These narratives were collected, written, and adapted into a full stage production by the members of the Performance Ensemble. Tickets ($5) on sale beginning Monday 11/10 at the Associated Students ticket office (USU) and Ticketmaster.

Nov. 7 (Friday):

Globalization: the College of Humanities International Film Festival. 9 a.m. - 10 p.m., Armer Screening Room, Manzanita Hall. At 4:15: "Wal Mart--The High Cost of Low Price," followed by Q&A session.

Sep. 4, 2008 (Thursday):

"Survival Moments." At 7:30 p.m. in Matador Square (the Free Speech Area), members of the Communication Studies Performance Ensemble will perform vignettes that critically examine class issues on CSUN's campus and our surrounding Los Angeles Area.

Sep. 4, 2008 (Thursday):

Author Barbara Ehrenreich speaks at Freshman Convocation (Thursday, 6:00 p.m., Oviatt Lawn)

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

CSUN Students Reading Nickel and Dimed

A Note to the Freshman Class of 2008-2009

CSUN’s 2008-2009 Freshman Common Reading is Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, an eye-opening and controversial book offering a first-hand account of what it was like to hold a minimum-wage job in three American cities in the late 1990s.  A journalist by profession with a PhD degree in biology, Ehrenreich is by turns amused and outraged as she writes about the people she met and the things she learned.

As a member of CSUN’s 50th freshman class, you are invited to read the book and to attend Freshman Convocation on Thursday, September 4, 2008, on the Oviatt Library lawn, where Ehrenreich will be the keynote speaker.  You may find that the book will also be assigned in your freshman classes.  There will certainly be campus-wide events related to Nickel and Dimed and its themes this year.  We hope that it will offer you opportunities for intellectual engagement as you extend the activities and friendships you established during the summer at New Student Orientation.

Join CSUN’s academic community. Read this book. Talk about it with other students, with faculty, with staff, with campus administrators, and (who knows?) even with your family.