Introduction to the START Reading List



This is the reading list for the standard 24-session START course described in the START Study Guide. These materials have been selected to provide an overview of critical social, cultural, economic, and political problems in our world and of various ways of bringing about positive societal change that are consistent with traditional values of honesty, democracy, freedom, liberty, tolerance, compassion, cooperation, and fairness. We have selected materials that are both easily accessible and freely available on the Internet.

For each START session, we have prepared a list of study questions, an overview article, and a collection of five sets of readings. We suggest that everyone in your START group read the overview article and ponder the study questions. We also suggest that five members of your group each read one of the five sets of readings and briefly summarize the readings for the rest of the group (as described in more detail in Section 2.F of the START Study Guide).

There are 21 collections of reading sets labeled A through U. The Overview Table [or STARTOverview.pdf] shows the standard way to use them in the 24 sessions. You can also download a version of this table in Microsoft Word format and modify it for your own START group [STARTOverview.doc].

Here is a list of all of the reading sets.

And here are some additional notes and tips on using the reading list.


First Reading Set Collection: A. Learning About START