Alan Wang, the "Gar-Ball" designer.
(Photo by Annie Lubinsky, Peninsula News)
With more One Book One Peninsula (OBOP) program activities coming up, including the Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Festival to be held at Marymount California University on September 27, the community-wide common reading program has been featured on Palos Verdes Peninsula News! In collaboration with Palos Verdes Library District, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, and Palos Verdes Art Center, we have truly united our community to discuss and take action in regards to this year's book selection and overall theme: Garbology. Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash, by Edward Humes, provides an eye-opening account of just how much our society wastes, the cost of it, and how some families, communities, and nations are finding a way back from waste so that our legacy to the future won't be buried in our landfills. The Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle Festival will take place on September 27 from 12 PM to 1:30 PM and will feature interactive games and demos. The festival will also feature the "Gar-Ball," an art piece created by Palos Verdes Art Center intern Alan Wang, that is designed to collect empty plastic water bottles. In addition, Garbology Author, Edward Humes will be on campus from 12 to 1pm! Attendance is free. To read the OBOP feature article, visit Palo Verdes Peninsula News: www.pvnews.com/news/one-book-event-shows-local-residents-are-driven-to-reduce/article_32bb9df0-213c-11e3-8116-0019bb2963f4.html For more information on other OBOP events, visit the One Book One Peninsula Facebook page: www.facebook.com/onebookonepeninsula Pick up a copy of Garbology today in the Marymount Bookstore or check it out from our library.
The Marymount Library is excited to announce an expansion of
its annual One Campus One Book program with new community partnerships.We have joined forces with the Palos Verdes
Library District, Palos Verdes Art Center and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land
Conservancy in sponsoring a community-wide common reading program now called
One Book One Peninsula.
For 2013, we have selected a sustainability-themed book
since it is a topic of great interest to all of our institutions and to our
coastal community as a whole.After much
consideration, the book selected for this year isGarbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trashby Pulitzer-prize winning author Edward Humes.
This is a fascinating book that journeys inside the secret
world of our biggest export, our most prodigious product, and our greatest
legacy:our trash.Did you know that each average American
produces a whopping 102 tons of garbage in a lifetime, more than any other
people in the world? The author leads
readers along the trail of that trash – what’s in it; the hidden costs of it;
and how some families, communities, and nations are finding a way back from
waste to discover a new kind of prosperity.Get ready to be surprised!
Why a Common Read?
First launched at Marymount in 2005, our common reading
program involves members of our campus – students and employees – reading the
same book.Readers are encouraged to
engage in an analysis of the book from a variety of disciplinary
perspectives.This has become a common
program at many universities, and within many cities, as a way to help members
of a community connect – to have something in common – to engage with each
other in talking about their perspectives of a book and to engage in a lively
and intellectual manner through a variety of events offered around the book’s
themes.
After all, this is what a
college education is designed to do – to broaden one’s perspectives and ways of
looking at the world.
Recent books in
our common read program include Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks,” and Father Gregory Boyle’s “Tattoos on the Heart .”
Join the Community Fun!
Marymount
community members are encouraged to read the book and take part in some of the
planned events supporting our One Book program
— including a campus visit by Edward Humes on 9/27 followed by a speaking
engagement with the author on Saturday 9/28 at the Palos Verdes Peninsula
Library.
Stay informed on
our many community-wide events related to the book by liking our One Book One
Peninsula Facebook page:www.facebook.com/onebookonepeninsula
Pick up a copy of the book today in the Marymount bookstore or check it out from the library.
You read the book and attended the discussion...now tell us what you think!
Please share your thoughts about this year's book selection,The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and the One Campus One Book program by taking a moment to complete the brief surveylinked below.
We value your opinion as we strive to continually improve this annual campus tradition.
The Marymount College Library launches its 8th annual campus-wide common reading program, One Campus One Book,with this year's selection "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot.
Chosen as a Best Book of the Year by more than 60 publications, including New York Times, The New Yorker, People, USA Today, O, The Oprah Magazine, NPR, Boston Globe, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks beautifully tells the story of an episode in the medical profession that had
far-reaching consequences. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was the unknowing
donor of a cell line that is “immortal," the unique ability of her
(cancerous) cells to be easily kept alive and grown, making them the
medium through which many of the twentieth-century advancements in cell
biology are derived. The polio vaccine, for example, was developed
through the use of HeLa cells, as they were named after the woman from which they originated.
The book also
covers issues in civil rights, law, privacy, ethics, psychology,
sociology, and business. Students and
instructors will find many areas to explore, reflect on, and debate.
The college tradition of One Campus One Book invites participants to read and discuss the same book throughout the Fall semester with the purpose of meeting these objectives:
To provide a common connection between
students, faculty, and staff, beginning when students arrive and lasting into
the classroom.
To provide an interdisciplinary view of
the diversity of our world through literature
To provide an opportunity for students
to understand their responsibility as engaged learners in an academic
community.
To emphasize the importance of critical
thinking, reading, and writing in the college setting while challenging
students to explore something new and different.
Use thisreading guide to help you reflect on the book and consider important questions raised such as: Who actually “owns” the cells? What
happens when businesses start to profit in a big way both from the cells
and the research they make possible? Do Henrietta Lacks’ descendants
have any rights to the cells or the monies they generate? What are the ethical considerations when working with human subjects?
A campus-wide book discussion is planned for November 16th, so be sure to mark your calendars
and be sure to attend and share your own thoughts of the book with campus peers!
You can purchase The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in the campus bookstore or borrow a copy from the Marymount library.
We look forward to another year of engaging and enlightening discussion!
