Each year, the Orientation Book Committee, selects a work for the entire first-year class and transfers to read before arriving on campus. During Orientation, discussions on the book are led by Pomona College faculty, staff, and administration with small groups of new students. The book will be shipped to all U.S. and Canadian new students, with other international students being given a digital copy. (Hard copies are also available for international students upon move-in on August 13, 2025.)
Here is last year's book information. We will release the new book selection in early summer 2025.
Orientation Book 2024
"Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited weight of the Khmer Rouge genocide and grapple with race, sexuality, friendship, and family." ~Good Reads
Overview of this page's contents:
- Afterparties on-campus tie-in events (Fall 2024-Spring 2025)
- Summer online book club meet-up information
- Background resources for the book, Cambodian history and culture, the legacy of trauma, and more
Follow CSWIMstagram for updates about on-campus orientation book tie-in events throughout the fall and spring semesters and to learn more about the CSWIM's Fall 2024 ID1 "Doing College" Workshop Series with topics ranging from managing the reading load of college classes to finding your voice in fast-moving class discussions, getting started with research and other paper prompts, reading like a writer, narrowing from a topic to a research question, demystifying citations, and motivating your writing to engage real readers.
Be sure to check out the background resources below for "Afterparties" gathered by the Orientation Book Partners, this year's selection committee, Director of College Writing, Jenny Thomas, and other staff and faculty. Learn more about the history of the Cambodian genocide that undergirds the book; gain insight from the field of psychology about the impact of parents' trauma on their kids; dive into Cambodian poetry, dance, and music; check out interviews and articles from the late author and his friends and colleagues; and view documentaries and films related to the book, including the story of the "Donut King", Ted Ngoc--the reason why 90% of privately-owned donut shops in California are under Cambodian ownership.