First Readings is Brown's summer reading project for all new students. The 2011-2012 academic year market the program's fifth year.  The program provides first-year and transfer students with a common reading experience that introduces them to the University and to the pleasures and rigors of undergraduate academic life.  The program is sponsored by the Dean of the College and Alumni Relations.

In accordance with the Year of China, the 2011 First Readings selection was Leslie Chang’s Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, a book about rural migration in China and the modern industrial revolution. 

Please visit First Readings for more information about the program, Leslie Chang, and resources on China.