Author Kristen Radtke to bring ’Seek You’ to life at Common Read Experience
Students who spent the summer reading Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness as part of Binghamton University’s Common Read Experience will soon have the chance to meet its author in person.
On Oct. 14, Kristen Radtke will visit campus to connect directly with first-year students, student leaders, faculty and staff. She will bring her award-winning graphic novel’s themes of loneliness, connection and community to life through a day full of events.
Her visit marks a highlight in the University’s growing Common Read Experience, a program designed to connect new students through shared reading and dialogue. Throughout the day, Radtke will meet with UNIV 101 classes as well as student leaders and University staff in a roundtable discussion before delivering a keynote presentation at 6 p.m. in the Osterhout Concert Theater on campus, followed by a Q&A session and book signing.
“You’re going to get this book, read it over the summer, and talk about it in your classes. Then, you actually get to see the author,” said Pete Nardone, senior director of The Union and chair of the Common Read Experience Program Steering Committee when discussing how the CRE operates. “You can ask questions, and there’ll be opportunities to connect. It’s a great experience.”
The program, launched in 2020, has grown steadily from virtual events during the COVID pandemic to full, in-person author visits and campus-wide programming. This year marks the second consecutive year Binghamton has hosted the author of its Common Read book selection. Additional events, such as the Debate and Deliberate Challenges on Nov. 11, draw hundreds of students to reflect on the book’s themes and practice constructive dialogue.
For students like Rowen Smith, now a sophomore who is majoring in biology, the program offered her both belonging and opportunity. “You’re coming to college with so much uncertainty,” she said. “It’s a brand new experience being able to have that common ground with other students and talk to them about reading such important, relevant things. It’s good to connect with other people on these topics that might be hard to talk about otherwise.”
Smith said the experience gave her the confidence to branch out into campus life. She works as a student receptionist in the Dean of Students Office and as a senior peer consultant in the Fleishman Career Center. She also serves on the executive board for the Planned Parenthood Generation Action Club and is a part of the FRI program.
“It led me to be able to step into different involvement on campus and explore different things,” she said. “A lot of times, it’s hard when you’re first coming to college to push yourself to get involved.”
Nardone said Seek You was chosen in part because of its format. “We wanted to try something different to help meet students where they’re at,” he said. “We think that a graphic novel has different levels of engagement to help explain the topic, in this case, loneliness in America, and how it connects to college-age students, and how we’re engaging students with that.”
For him, Radtke’s upcoming visit reflects what the program has become. “I believe that when students, faculty and staff come together in these types of programs, it really brings us together to be better equipped to have these diverse viewpoints,” Nardone said. “And we’re learning, we’re learning from each other, we’re learning as individuals, but most importantly, we’re learning as a community.”
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