Resilient Democracies

Ford School Community Read: Demon Copperhead

“"The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”
— Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 

The Ford School Community Read is an annual opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and alumni to engage in a shared intellectual experience. Our AY26–27 selection, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that explores poverty, foster care, addiction, rural life, resilience, and the public systems that shape people's lives.

Set in southern Appalachia and inspired by Charles Dickens's David Copperfield, the novel invites readers to consider urgent questions at the heart of resilient democracies: How do institutions earn trust? Whose voices are heard in policymaking? And how can public policy help build systems rooted in dignity, accountability, and care? Throughout the academic year, Demon Copperhead will catalyze conversation, reflection, and community engagement across the Ford School.

Join us in reading with curiosity, complexity, and compassion—and in considering how public policy can better serve people and communities.