2025-26 Common Read: The Anthropocene Reviewed
East Tennessee State University is proud to announce that internationally acclaimed author and educator John Green will serve as the keynote speaker for the 2026 Festival of Ideas, to be held on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in the ETSU Foundation Grand Hall at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts. Ticket information is available on the Festival of Ideas website.
Green is the No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of several acclaimed books, including “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” ETSU’s 2025–26 Common Read selection. His work has been translated into more than 55 languages, with over 24 million copies in print.
Some of his other best-selling works include “Looking for Alaska,” “An Abundance of Katherines,” “Paper Towns,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “Turtles All the Way Down,” and his latest book, “Everything is Tuberculosis.”
In addition to his literary accomplishments, Green is the co-founder of the popular educational YouTube channel Crash Course, which has amassed over 10 million subscribers and 1.2 billion views.
ETSU launched the Festival of Ideas in 2019 as a platform to bring thought leaders from across disciplines to campus, encouraging meaningful dialogue and intellectual exchange among students, faculty and the wider community.
Common Read News:
An ETSU Festival of Ideas/Common Read Student Writing Project
Reviewing the World We've Made
ETSU students are invited to take part in Reviewing the World We’ve Made, a reflective writing project inspired by ETSU’s Common Read, The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.
Pause and consider something humans have created and how it has shaped your life or the lives of others. It could be something small or significant, serious or lighthearted, a place on campus, a piece of technology, a routine, a tradition, or an everyday object. What matters most is not the subject itself, but why it matters to you.
You will write a short, personal essay that “reviews” one aspect of the human-made world and what that subject reveals about people, connection, community, and/or meaning. This is not an academic paper. Submissions should be thoughtful, reflective, and grounded in lived experience. You may also choose to include a rating or symbolic score, as Green does in The Anthropocene Reviewed.
This is a non-competitive writing project. Essays will not be ranked or scored, but reviewed holistically for clarity, originality, thoughtfulness, and connection to the human-made world. Selected essays may be featured on ETSU websites, other digital platforms, and in printed publications, with some receiving public recognition during John Green’s campus visit.
Deadline to submit: Sunday, Feb. 15 at 11:59 p.m.
Upcoming Common Read Events:
Trivia Talks
The Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) will be hosting 30 minute Trivia Talks. Each one will discuss a different essay form The Anthropocene Reviewed. Fun trivia questions about the essay will prompt dialogue, and have the possiblity of winning prizes. This event is open to all students on campus.
- Scratch 'n' Sniff Stickers: Monday, January 26th at 2pm in The Forum, Culp room 311
- The Notes App: Tuesday, January 27th at 10:30am in The Forum, Culp room 311
- Whispering: Wednesday, January 28th at 1:30pm in The Forum, Culp room 311
- The World's Largest Ball of Paint: Thursday, January 29th at 2:30pm in The Forum, Culp room 311
- Monopoly: Friday, January 30th at 10:00am in Culp room 219
Arts Showcase
This year's Mary B. Martin School of the Arts Showcase returns Jan. 31 to the Martin Center for the Arts, featuring student performances, film, storytelling and visual art in a free public event. The theme of the showcase is inspired by the ETSU Common Read and is titled: “The Anthropocene Reviewed Through Art: Stories of what we love, what we've lost, and what we choose to remember.” Learn more.
Previous Selections
The ETSU Common Read began in 2024 as a catalyst for connection, conversation, and community learning. Each academic year, the university will introduce a new campus read for the campus community to read and discuss.
Past selections include:
2023-24
The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World
Jamil Zaki
2024-25
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
