Convocation Book Committee 2009-10
Meetings
- Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:30-1:45PM, A&S 315 > Notes
- Wednesday, 8 October 2009, 12:30-1:45PM, A&S 315 > Notes
- Monday, 30 November 2009, 12:30-1:45PM, A&S 315 > Notes
- Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 12:30-1:45PM, A&S 315 > Notes
Membership
| Name |
College/Department | |
|---|---|---|
| Blazer, Alex (Chair) |
A&S: English & Rhetoric | alex.blazer@gcsu.edu |
| Bragg, Beauty (Fall only) | A&S: English & Rhetoric | beauty.bragg@gcsu.edu |
| Palmer, Eustace | A&S: English & Rhetoric | eustace.palmer@gcsu.edu |
| Whitaker, Elaine | A&S: English & Rhetoric | elaine.whitaker@gcsu.edu |
| Sams, Doreen "Dee" | Business: Marketing | doreen.sams@gcsu.edu |
| Gregg, Diane | Education: Foundations/Secondary Education | diane.gregg@gcsu.edu |
| Tucker, Nathan | Graduate Student: A&S: English & Rhetoric | nathan.tucker@gcsu.edu |
| Butler, Scott | Health Sciences: Kinesiology | scott.butler@gcsu.edu |
| Hobbs, Will | Health Sciences: Kinesiology | will.hobbs@gcsu.edu |
| Harshbarger, Bruce | Student Affairs | bruce.harshbarger@gcsu.edu |
| Jahr, Paul | Student Affairs | paul.jahr@gcsu.edu |
Goals and History
In 2008, the Committee chose from Arab/Persian and Arab/Persian-American memoirs, broadly defined, because they introduced the students to diversity and globalism, two goals of GCSU's philosophy statement: http://www.gcsu.edu/about/philos.htm. The book we select should broach some of these values:
- Critical and analytical thinking skills
- A broad understanding of global issues
- An appreciation for diversity
- An ability to integrate information across disciplines
- Application of knowledge
- A foundation for making moral and ethical decisions
- Civic responsibility
In our 14 September 2009 meeting, the Committee further clarified that the Convocation Book should
- introduce students to some of the values of our mission statement
- alternate between creative nonfiction and fiction
- confront students with something they've not read
- pose current and topical questions and issues related to ethics, morality, globalism, race, and/or class, and thus be no more than ten years old
Recommendations
Amazon = plot and reviews
Dropbox = downloadable excerpt
- John Marks, Reasons to Believe: One Man's Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- There's also a film based on the book which we could show and have the filmmaker(s) discuss: http://purplestateofmind.com/home.php
- Allen Gee's Pitch: during our Monday, 14 September 2009 Monday meeeting, Allen articulated how the book is not propaganda but rather decent portrayal of Evangelicals; moreover, it does not tell the reader how to believe but rather sparks questions and free discussion on belief. Marks is a factual reporter who values informed definitions. Marks and Craig Detweiler, director of the documentary Purple State of Mind, have polished their presentation and Q&A performance on a college tour.
- Convocation Book Website created by Alex Blazer
- Convocation Book Questions created by Alex Blazer, Allen Gee, Diane Gregg, and Nathan Jackson Tucker
No Longer Being Considered
- Angie Cruz, Let It Rain Coffee
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- Nathan Tucker's Pitch: . . . there were only a few good reviews, and no bad ones. So, I scouted around for some others, and as it turns out its looked at pretty favorably. Its not relevant to the pwecious lives of youngsters, however, it is about people in the Dominican Republic who come to America and (gasp!) they don't all have the same opinion about how the world works, which might be a good teaching tool for the Froshies. Also, there's no abuse, and not a lot of violence.
- Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- Will Hobbs' Pitch: She’s a phenomenal writer and the book carries issues of diversity (she’s of Muslim ancestry living in southern Appalachia), natural beauty and majesty, sexuality, human and ecological relationships in harmony, etc. It’s an exceptionally well written book. . .
- Kaye Gibbons, Ellen Foster
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- Susan Steele's Pitch: Ellen Foster is the story of a very plucky little girl who is unwanted by the family who "inherited" her. She sees a family one day that appears happy, and asks who they are. After being told they are "that foster family", she mistakenly thinks that “foster” is a name. Because she decides that is the family she wants to belong to, she begins to call herself Ellen Foster, and stubbornly decides to take matters into her own hands to become part of a loving home. The book has themes of alienation, not fitting in, making choices, and never giving up when you have a strong goal in mind.
- Breena Clarke, River Cross My Heart
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- Susan Steele's Pitch: River, Cross My Heart is about an African American family in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. in the early 20th century. The story is told from the perspective of a young girl who is supposed to be watching her younger sister one day, and the sibling drowns in the Potomac. It is a coming of age story, it addresses racism in a non-violent way, deals with gender roles, and it has the historical perspective that I think is very interesting. There is a sub-plot of a wealthy white family who employs the mother, and experiences financial ruin, and interesting perspective in these economic times.
- Dennis Covington, Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia
- Amazon
- Dropbox
- Elaine Whitaker's Pitch: Covington was a finalist for a National Award the year of publication; Salvation on Sand Mountain has recently been reissued. Covington was a colleague in my old job but moved from there to Texas. He’s a complex man who crafts his words. This is not a debut novel, as is so often the choice; Covington is probably 50 now. The last male author came in 2006.
- Flannery O'Connor
- Bruce Harshbarger's Pitch: We may want to continue doing the Circles the way we always have. . . . But I occasionally hear from people who are surprised that given our heritage we don't have incoming students read O'Connor. The Circles program could be a vehicle for doing something like this if it did not include the live visit by the author. I like the O'Connor idea and I like the ideal of having greater leeway in the selection of a book. . . .
- Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
- Alex Blazer's Pitch: Should the Committee deem this text appropriate for our college Convocation goals, we could use Circles to kick off the Mockingbird Fiftieth Anniversary events at GCSU, which include a play in September, oral history project in November, travelling museum exhibit December through February, and essay contest in August.
- Bertice Berry, The Ties That Bind
- Amazon
- Official Site
- Dropbox
- Larry Christenson's Pitch: If we could get Bertice Berry here as an author for Circles next year, I would be willing to share in travel budget/speaker fee if I could also get her to address the RAs. I think she could also speak to Fac/Staff in a workshop as well. She is dynamic! -- Heck, she could be the kick off speaker AND the convocation speaker.
To Be Considered for 2011
- Tracy Kidder, Strength in What Remains
- Amazon
- Recommended by Elaine Whitaker
- Recommended by Dwight Call on behalf on the International Symposium Committee: "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the book is the story of a young immigrant fresh from the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda and living on the street in New York City, who follows his dream to establish health clinics in his native Burundi."
- Marc Fitten, Valeria's Last Stand
- Amazon
- Recommended by Ken Procter
History
1998 |
Fred Chappell’s Brighten the Corner Where You Are (a comic novel set in 1946 and told by the son of an innovative rural North Carolina schoolteacher whose approach to the theory of evolution sets him at odds with the local school board) |
1999 |
Denise Giardina's Storming Heaven (a historical novel tracing the pain of unionizing the coal mines of Kentucky and West Virginia in the early 20th century) |
2000 |
Dr. Lori Arviso Alvord’s The Scalpel and the Silver Bear (autobiographical tale of a Navaho torn between practicing the methods of medicine preferred by her culture versus the ways taught by her professional training at Dartmouth and Stanford) |
2001 |
Lee Smith’s Oral History (a novel that captures the folklore and the history of an Appalachian family from the late 19th century to the late-mid 20th century) |
2002 |
Melissa Fay Greene’s Praying for Sheetrock (a nonfiction story of the rise and fall of the first black commissioner of McIntosh County, Georgia) |
2003 |
Janisse Ray’s Ecology of a Cracker Childhood (a memoir of growing up in a junkyard in South Georgia interlaced with Rachel Carson-like chapters that recount the history and the effects of the loss of the state’s native longleaf pine forests) |
2004 |
J. Joaquín Fraxedas’s The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera (a Hemingway-like novel of three Cubans who endure a hurricane as they flee on a small raft from their homeland to Florida) |
2005 |
Ruben Martinez’s Crossing Over (an ethnography of Mexican American immigrants, both legal and illegal, set in their homes in Mexico and in their adopted homes in the U.S.) |
| 2006 | Silas House’s Clay’s Quilt |
| 2007 | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus |
| 2008 | Tayari Jones’ Leaving Atlanta |
| 2009 | Nawal El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero |