Thursday, November 05, 2009

Podcast interview of Alex Kotlowitz Answering IU South Bend Student Questions now Available

Attended Monday's lecture and find yourself wanting more Alex Kotlowitz? Listen to IU South Bend Political Science professor Steven Gerencser interview Kotlowitz (questions asked were written by IU South Bend students from a variety of classes). Interview is approximately 21 minutes long and is available here.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Oprah television movie of There Are No Children Here available at Schurz Library for 2-hour checkout

Wondering if the story of the Rivers' family was ever made into a movie? In 1993, Oprah Winfrey starred as LaJoe in a television movie version of There Are No Children Here. While it has long been out of print in the United States, the Schurz Library was able to obtain a copy in the European PAL format and have it transferred into a format viewable for United States DVD players. The DVD is 91 minutes long and is available at the Schurz Library circulation desk for a 2-hour reserve checkout. Want to watch the film but do not have time to check it out, take it home, and view it? Try watching it in the AV Nook in the new Dorene Dwyer Hammes Media Commons and Café!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Looking to Read More Alex Kotlowitz? Try The Other Side of the River, Set in Michigan

Finished There Are No Children Here and now find yourself wanting to read more Alex Kotlowitz? The Schurz Library also owns his 1998 book The Other Side of the River, which is set in Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan. The call number for the book is (please check IUCAT for availability): F574.S26 K68 1998.

Friday, October 09, 2009

One Book, One Campus is now on Facebook

One Book, One Campus now has a facebook presence. Become a fan today to receive updates on news and links related to the issues raised in There Are No Children Here.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Alex Kotlowitz, Author of 2009-2010 One Book, One Campus Title to Speak at IU South Bend November 2

Alex Kotlowitz, author of next year's One Book, One Campus title There Are No Children Here, will be speaking at IU South Bend at 7 p.m. November 2. The event will be held in Northside 158. A reception and book signing will follow.

The event is a co-Campus Theme/Schurz Library Speaker Series event.

There Are No Children Here is the story of two boys, Pharoah and Lafayette Rivers, who grew up in the Henry Horner Homes, a Chicago public housing project in the late 1980s. It won the Helen B. Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, among other awards. The book was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 150 most important books of the 20th Century. Kotlowitz is currently the writer-in-residence at Northwestern University.

The campus theme for 2009-2010 is the Urban and the Rural. The theme description is as follows:

The urban versus the rural, the center versus the periphery, Wall Street versus Main Street, red state versus blue state, capital versus province, small town versus big city, the elite versus the folk, town versus gown, the cosmopolitan versus the bucolic, the sophisticated versus the simple. These geographical and cultural conflicts have become commonplace ways of dividing polities, economies, and societies. Although we find these conflicts in America today, some of them are rooted in earlier disputes, such as the conflict between town and country in eighteenth-century England; and similar clashes appear over the globe and throughout history.

One recent example could be seen in the United States political campaign of 2008, with its clash over the definition of American values and the people who supposedly embody them: where is the real America and is its future best represented by small town life and "Joe the Plumber" or is it better reflected in urban and educational centers?

While we might be familiar with this latest instance of this conflict, it is merely one more in a centuries’ long debate about differing values, lives lived, and problems faced in urban areas as opposed to small towns and rural areas.

The campus theme holds up these distinctions for consideration, reflecting on where they might be helpful and when they are distractions, even disingenuous. This theme can be addressed in economics, culture, racial and ethnic challenges, demographics, health-care, education, the arts, religion, and even public policy regarding scientific research. Finally, the theme encourages consideration of how demographic and technological changes such as the growth of suburbs and exurbs, the internet, globalization of the economy and environmental damage, challenge the meaning and value of these types of distinctions.

The Schurz Library Speaker Series provides speakers of intellectual interest to the university and the community on topics related to the campus theme. All Schurz Library Speaker events are free and open to the public.

Friday, April 10, 2009

One Book, One Campus 2009-2010 Winner: There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz

Thank you to everyone who voted for the 2008-2009 One Book, One Campus title.
The winner is: There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz.

Information about this book can be found at: http://www.iusb.edu/~libg/onebook/children.shtml

If anyone is interested in leading book discussions on next year's title, please contact Julie Elliott at 520-4410 or

Thanks again to Dan O'Bryant of Information Technologies for setting up the voting system.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Have a Say in Choosing Next Year’s One Book, One Campus Title! Vote Ends April 8

Voting is currently underway for the 2009-2010 One Book, One Campus title and will end at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8.

The address for voting is: https://cf.iusb.edu/onebookvote/


To vote, you will need to use your IU South Bend login and password.


Thank you to Dan O'Bryant of Information Technologies for setting up the voting system.


This year's nominees are (click on the links for more information about the nominees):

Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz

The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry

Where We Live: Essays About Indiana edited by David Hoppe

Friday, April 18, 2008

First Draft of Darwin’s Origin of Species Now Available Online

From BBC News:

Draft notes which eventually became Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species are now available online at The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online, a site managed by the Cambridge University Library. In addition to all editions of The Origin of Species, the site also contains the largest collection of Darwin's private papers and letters, and diaries and journals he kept while aboard the Beagle. More materials will be added to the site soon. The url for the site is: http://darwin-online.org.uk/.

Thanks to Dr. Andrew Schnabel for the link.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

One Book, One Campus 2008-2009: The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin

Thank you to everyone who voted for the 2008-2009 One Book, One Campus title.
The winner is: The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin.

Information about this book can be found at: http://www.iusb.edu/~libg/onebook/darwin.shtml

If anyone is interested in leading book discussions on next year's title, please contact Julie Elliott at 520-4410 or

Thanks again to Dan O'Bryant of Information Technologies for setting up the voting system.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Have a Say in Choosing Next Year’s One Book, One Campus Title! Vote Ends April 4

Vote for One Book, One Campus 2008-2009!

Voting is currently underway and will end at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 4. The address for voting is: https://cf.iusb.edu/onebookvote/

To vote, you will need to use your IU South Bend login and password.

Thank you to Dan O'Bryant of Information Technologies for setting up the voting system.

The Nominees for 2008-2009 One Book, One Campus Are:

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Second Edition
By Thomas Kuhn

Title available in paperback?: Yes
Pages: 226


Description of book: "The book that started the concept of paradigm shift.”


--title nominated by Micheline Nilsen, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts

The Origin of Species
By Charles Darwin

Title available in paperback?:Yes
Pages: 336


Description of book: Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species was first published in 1859 and the world will celebrate its 150th anniversary during our own year of “Revolutions.” The book is incredibly accessible as there are dozens of editions still available in print (including a Dover Thrift edition for $5 and an online version that is free). Moreover, it requires no specialized scientific training to understand its precepts, yet it is arguably one of the five most important scientific treatises ever written. On the Origin of Species fits the campus theme as well or better than any other text since the revolution that followed still affects all of us today. The book is a classic that more students should be reading, not just those in the natural sciences, but social sciences and humanities studies can incorporate it as well. On the Origin of Species impacts the fields of philosophy, history, religion, and literature while serving as a foundation for biology and anthropology. But the most important reason it should be selected as the One Book, One Campus text is that the writing is eloquent, evocative, and absolutely relevant.


--title nominated by James M. VanderVeen, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology

Society of Mind
By Marvin Minsky

Title available in paperback?:Yes
Pages: 336


Description of book: Minsky is an Artificial Intelligence researcher and theorist. By explaining what he understands will be needed for AI, he necessarily theorizes about how our mind really works. I just found out about this book and have not read it yet, but plan to do so asap. There are good reviews on Amazon, including mini-chapter reviews. One reviewer said "It makes you think about the process of thought."


--title nominated by Steve Turner, graduate student

The Transcendentalists
By Barbara Packer

Title available in paperback?:Yes
Pages: 304


Description of book: "Barbara L. Packer's long essay "The Transcendentalists" is widely acknowledged by scholars of nineteenth-century American literary history as the best-written, most comprehensive treatment to date of Transcendentalism. Previously existing only as part of a volume in the magisterial Cambridge History of American Literature, it will now be available for the first time in a stand-alone edition. Packer presents Transcendentalism as a living movement, evolving out of such origins as New England Unitarianism and finding early inspiration in European Romanticism. Transcendentalism changed religious beliefs, philosophical ideas, literary styles, and political allegiances. In addition, it was a social movement whose members collaborated on projects and formed close personal ties. Transcendentalism contains vigorous thought and expression throughout, says Packer; only a study of the entire movement can explain its continuing sway over American thought." --excerpted from review of Book from American Transcendentalism Web


--title nominated by Diana Hess, Program Manager, Extended Learning Services

Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
By Kwame Anthony Appiah

Title available in paperback?:Yes
Pages: 224


Description of book: It discusses a revolution of the mind needed to cope with the ongoing revolutionary process of globalization.


--title nominated by George Candler, Associate Professor, SPEA

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Taught a One Book, One Campus book in your class? We Need Your Feeback!

If you have taught any of the One Book, One Campus titles in your classes during the past three and a half years, and would be willing to share your experience, please e-mail Julie Elliott at . Details about how the book was used, how it went, and any additional information for publication on the One Book, One Campus web site would be useful, but if you are unable to provide that information, if you could at least send the course number, name of course, and which book used, by November 16, it would be appreciated.


The One Book, One Campus titles are as follows:

2004-2005: War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges

2005-2006: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

2006-2007: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

2007-2008: An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen

Thursday, October 11, 2007

OBOC Opening Night Pre-Performance Discussion about Paragon Springs, October 12, 7 p.m.

On opening night of Paragon Springs (an adaptation of the One Book, One Campus title An Enemy of the People), Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in NS 020, Theatre professor Ernie Nolan will be leading a pre-performance discussion--prepping people for the play and discussing how to transform a play from the written word into performance.

“Paragon is quite a faithful adaptaion of the Ibsen [play], but it moves the action of the play from 1880s Norway to 1920s Midwest America,” said Nolan. “Part of our discussion will touch on the fact that it seems that this play has been reinvented several times for audiences...It's interesting to ponder if the next adaptation in the future will be set in our present time.”

Paragon Springs, which will be making its Indiana debut with this performance, will be in the Campus Auditorium at 8 p.m.

Monday, October 08, 2007

One Book, One Campus Opening Night Pre-Performance Discussion on Paragon Springs, Oct. 12 7 p.m.

On opening night of Paragon Springs (an adaptation of the One Book, One Campus title An Enemy of the People), Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. in NS 020, Theatre professor Ernie Nolan will be leading a pre-performance discussion--prepping people for the play and discussing how to transform a play from the written word into performance.

“Paragon is quite a faithful adaptaion of the Ibsen [play], but it moves the action of the play from 1880s Norway to 1920s Midwest America,” said Nolan. “Part of our discussion will touch on the fact that it seems that this play has been reinvented several times for audiences...It's interesting to ponder if the next adaptation in the future will be set in our present time.”

Paragon Springs, which will be making its Indiana debut with this performance, will be in the Campus Auditorium at 8 p.m.

Interested in leading a One Book, One Campus discussion? Contact Julie Elliott at
.

October 9: Schurz Library Speaker Series: Paul Murray, “THE POWER OF ONE”

Please join us as Paul Murray, Environmental Safety and Sustainability Director for Herman Miller, discusses "THE POWER OF ONE: HOW YOU CAN EMBRACE AND COMMUNICATE THE ENVIRONMENTAL ETHIC" Tuesday, October 9, 7:30 p.m. in the Franklin D. Schurz Library 5th floor atrium. Murray will discuss how the actions of just one person can inspire greater environmental awareness within our university and community. The Schurz Library Speaker series provides speakers of intellectual interest to the university and the community on topics related to the campus theme and One Book, One Campus title. All Schurz Library Speaker events are free and open to the public.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Doctors featured in book to speak, Monday, March 26, 7:30 to 9 p.m. NS 158

Please join us, Monday, March 26, 7:30 p.m. in Northside 158 as Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, two of the doctors featured in this year's One Book, One Campus title, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down discuss the book and do a question and answer session. A reception will follow.

Dr. Neil Ernst and Dr. Peggy Philp are two of the doctors who cared for Lia Lee, the patient at the center of this year's One Book, One Campus title. Ernst and Philp met and married while students at the University of California-Berkeley. After attending medical school at the University of California-Davis, they did pediatric training in Fresno, California and Salt Lake City, Utah. They then moved to Merced, California to teach pediatrics at the UC Davis affiliated family practice residency program, opened their own family practice, and assisted the development of a level II NICU at the county hospital. The couple, who have two sons, left Merced in 2002 to start a group practice in Redmond, Oregon with Dan Murphy, another doctor who cared for Lia in the book.

One Book, One Campus is sponsored by the IU South Bend Franklin D. Schurz Library.

This program would not be possible without the assistance from the following sponsors: Lester M. Wolfson Visiting Scholar Fund from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, South Bend Tribune, Chancellor Una Mae Reck, Indiana Humanities Council,
School of Education, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts,
Division of Nursing and Health Professions, Office of Public Affairs and University Advancement, Friends of the Franklin D. Schurz Library, University Center for Excellence in Teaching (UCET), School of Public and Environmental Affairs, IU South Bend American Democracy Project, and Office of the Director of Library Services.