A reading program for high schoolers that adults wanted, too.
Founder
Lauren Frey, M.A.
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The New Commons was founded in 2026 by Lauren Frey, a lifelong reader, trained academic, and experienced facilitator, with a passion for dialogue and love for the humanities.
Previously, Lauren had a six-year career in public health communications & project management, where she worked with top executives at both the federal and state levels, specifically supporting Long COVID research, Medicaid, and behavioral health networks.
She earned her M.A. in English with Distinction from Georgetown University, 2019, and her B.A. in English from Biola University in 2017. She is also a writer and the founding editor-in-chief of Copytext, a magazine that publishes creative work in the context of revision.
The New Commons is deeply indebted to so many authors, teachers, journalists, and organizations whose work has informed this program.
Sources
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Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1983.
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like a Professor. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.
Harris, Joseph D. A Teaching Subject: Composition Since 1966, New Edition. Utah State University Press, 2012.
Henning, John E.The Art of Discussion-Based Teaching: Opening Up Conversation in the Classroom. New York: Routledge, 2008.
hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge, 1994.
Wolf, Maryanne. Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. New York: Harper. 2018.
Sarkar, Advait. “How To Define An Elephant: Reflections of a Cambridge Supervisor.” 2017.
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Astor, Maggie. “Fewer People Are Reading for Fun, Study Finds.” The New York Times, August 20, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/well/reading-pleasure-decline-study.html
Goldstein, Dana. “Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.” The New York Times, December 12, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/us/high-school-english-teachers-assigning-books.html
Hsu, Hua. “What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?” The New Yorker, June 30, 2025. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/07/07/the-end-of-the-english-paper.
Hunter, Walt. “Stop Meeting Students Where They Are.” The Atlantic, February 2, 2026. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/02/youth-reading-books-professors/685825/
Kahloon, Idrees. “America Is Sliding Toward Illiteracy.” The Atlantic, October 14, 2025. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/10/education-decline-low-expectations/684526/.
Rothman, Joshua. “What's Happening to Reading?” The New Yorker, June 17, 2025. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/whats-happening-to-reading.