Exhibits
UM's Common Read for 2025-2026 is Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia to Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton.
Links:
- the author's website
- the UM Common Read Experience
- a list of previous UM Common Read selections
![University of Mississippi Common Read 2025. [image: book cover, author walking among giant Redwood trees] Each year, the Common Reading Experience committee reviews book suggestions to select a work. First year students receive a copy of the text at orientation to finish before the school year begins, and instructors from the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, First-Year Experience, and others utilize the text in their classes. The program aspires for an enriched sense of academic community through communal reading.](https://exhibit-production-digitalcommons.s3.amazonaws.com/images/01_intro.width-800.jpg)
The LibGuide for the 2025-2026 Common Read includes:
- Links to "On the Trail" video segments produced for CBS News
- Links to related books, articles, statistics and media
- Instructions for locating a copy of the book in UM Libraries
- List of campus events related to the Common Read
- Links to teaching resources
![[image: photo of Conor Knighton] Meet the Author: Conor Knighton. Knighton is the author of the 2025 Common Read book "Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park." He is also the creator and producer of "On the Trail," a CBS series on national parks, and "Island Hopping", a series of CBS News Sunday Morning segments set on islands across the world. Knighton has won five Emmys for his work as a CBS correspondent. In 2005, Knighton helped launch Current TV and hosted and produced three news/comedy franchises for the network. Conor has produced pieces from India, Nicaragua, the United Arab Emirates, Czech Republic, Iceland, and Austria. His commentary has been featured on CNN, HLN, TV Guide, MTV, E!, Oxygen, and KNBC.](https://exhibit-production-digitalcommons.s3.amazonaws.com/images/02_author.width-800.jpg)
![[image: collage of photos of Conor Knighton] Fall Convocation. Join us to hear from campus leaders and guest speaker and author of this year's Common Read, Conor Knighton. Bring your copy of the book, Leave Only Footprints, for Knighton to sign. [image of calendar icon]: 08.26.2025; [image of clock icon]: at 7:00 PM; [image of location icon]: The Pavilion](https://exhibit-production-digitalcommons.s3.amazonaws.com/images/10_fall_convocation.width-800.jpg)
![Upcoming Events. [6 tiles with event details]. For a full schedule of events, visit https://eventcalendar.olemiss.edu](https://exhibit-production-digitalcommons.s3.amazonaws.com/images/11_upcoming_events.width-800.jpg)
Click to access the full schedule of events.
![Summary document including 1) Author's Intent and Narrative Structure, 2) Comparative Park Analysis, 3) Environmental Responsibility, 4) Writing Response Prompts. [Full text document is also available for download.]](https://exhibit-production-digitalcommons.s3.amazonaws.com/images/12_book_info.width-800.jpg)
Click for full-text/searchable version of this document.
Free to Use and Reuse: Vintage Travel Posters from the Library of Congress
Books in the Exhibit case, 2nd floor, J. D. Williams Library:
- National Parks of the U.S.A. / written by Kate Siber; illustrated by Chris Turnham
- Park Scientists : Gila Monsters, Geysers, and Grizzly Bears in America's Own Backyard / Mary Kay Carson; with photographs by Tom Uhlman
- John Muir : America's First Environmentalist / by Kathryn Lasky; illustrated by Stan Fellows
- Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park / Conor Knighton (e-book is also available)
- Ansel Adams in the National Parks : Photographs from America's Wild Places / edited by Andrea G. Stillman; essay by Richard B. Woodward
- American Wilderness : the National Parks / edited by Letitia Burns O'Connor & Dana Levy
