Launched by President Susan Herbst in 2011 and envisioned as a means of engendering campus-wide discussion and dialogue, the UConn Reads initiative has consistently featured books that both engage the diverse viewpoints of our university community and refract contemporary issues and debates. From Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, from Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis to The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, UConn Reads has unfailingly reflected present-day concerns over human rights, class inequalities, gender disparities, and environmental catastrophes. Continuing in the provocative vein of its predecessors, this year’s selection – Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow – prompted much needed conversation and reflective dialogue about race, racial oppression, and systemic racism.
Building on the success of this year’s “Race in America” focus, the UConn Reads Steering Committee has selected next year’s theme: “Religion in America.” Founded as a haven from religious persecution and envisioned as an asylum of spiritual tolerance, the United States is not surprisingly home to a number of different faiths and diverse denominations; nevertheless, as the increase in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic crimes makes clear, religion remains a contested and central issue in contemporary American life. The UConn Reads Selection Committee seeks nominations that reflect this upcoming year’s “church and state” focus; while remaining open to multiple types of nominations, the Committee will not consider specific religious texts (e.g., the Bible or the Quran). Instead, the Committee will consider novels, non-fiction, poetry, and graphic novels.
In the interest of expanding the purview and reach of the UConn Reads program, this year’s nomination process will take place over the remaining spring semester (2016). The final decision will be publicized the first week of May (2016). Please submit your nominations by April 15th at the link below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vc02D6HbHPM5tUC3ItYeqw5inbk8_UEz21g_ovrY8tA/viewform
For more information, contact: Office of the Provost at provost@uconn.edu