Synergy, the Common Reading Experience of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, supports the university mission of integration of teaching, research, and service, stimulation of intellectual curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and thoughtful expression.  Furthermore, the program supports goal one of the Strategic Plan: Create the most powerful learning experience possible for our students. It is designed to intentionally reinforce the expectations of the university environment through scholarly engagement. Synergy unites the efforts of entities on the campus and in the surrounding community to bring about a combined positive effect greater than that which these elements could achieve working separately.

Participants in the Common Reading Experience will:

• Clarify personal ideologies while discovering diverse perspectives.
• Develop appreciation and respect for the culture, heritage, and ideas of individuals with dissimilar backgrounds through civil dialogue and respectful expression of ideas, even amidst disagreement and controversy.
• Create an identity as a citizen of multiple communities on the campus and beyond through a holistic approach to the literature involving interdisciplinary paradigms and program integration.
• Nurture the art of reading critically and applying themes from the text in diverse forums.
• Develop effective communication and critical thinking skills in a variety of platforms on a breadth of topics.