About Common Question
Each year, the Hopkins Common Question poses one big question to the Hopkins community, curates a set of relevant sources, and creates spaces for conversation.
Common Question draws on a history at Hopkins of a Common Read. With books ranging from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Anne Fadiman) to The Beautiful Struggle (Ta-Nehisi Coates), the Common Read invited undergraduates to consider cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives.
Common Question, similarly, is about curiosity, expansive thinking, and open-minded engagement across disciplines. But instead of reading a single text, we explore one big question through sources from creative, scientific, and humanistic perspectives. These sources provide a jumping off point for conversations around campus, such as residence hall discussions and casual meals with faculty. Common Question invites you to read deeply, browse widely, and join the conversation—and find the big questions that inspire you.
