As the 2018-19 winds down (The Book of Joy) and program planning is about to begin for next year’s book (Another Day in the Death of America, about gun violence), we have a third book to consider — not yet selected — for the year after next.
THIS YEAR, NEXT YEAR AND THE YEAR AFTER
●︎ The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World — The 2018-19 book project comes to an end with Karma Waltonen’s stand-up routine, “Chronic Pain: A Comedy,” 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 22), 194 . Free and open to the public. Read more about Waltonen and her routine, below.
●︎ Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives — Our book for 2019-20. The first meeting of the program planning committee will be from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, in 63 . The paperback is available at °ϲĻϢ Davis Stores at the discounted price of $10.99 (a $5 savings), or you can borrow a copy from the Office of Campus Community Relations.
To join the planning committee or borrow the book, contact Megan Macklin by email.
●︎ What will we read in 2020-21? — Nominations are now being accepted, on the topic of mental health. Volunteers are sought for the selection committee. See story for details.
The process of selecting the 2020-21 book is just beginning, now that the has announced the topic: mental health. Everyone in the campus community is invited to submit nominations and-or serve on the selection committee.
The book topic changes from year to year — for example, it was community-building this year and it’s violence-gun violence next year. The 2020-21 topic, mental health, fits in with a “basic needs” priority for students at °ϲĻϢ Davis. “We’ll look for a book that will enhance discussions among students, staff and faculty and the surrounding community,” said Megan Macklin, book project coordinator in the Office of Campus Community Relations.
Criteria for nominations include well-written, accessible and engaging to a general audience; short enough to be read within the time frame usually allotted for coursework; provocative and intriguing to as many members of the community as possible, to invite diverse participation and integration into discussion groups and courses across disciplines; noncampus authors only, with consideration given to someone who can come to campus, to give a lecture and participate in a forum.
Eligibility extends to any published work that is still in print in paperback — including nonfiction work, plays, novels, collections of short stories or essays.
Nominations are due by Friday, July 12, via email to Macklin. She’s also the person to contact if you wish to volunteer for the selection committee. Its first meeting will be from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, July 22, in 63 (phone and internet connections will be available).
‘Chronic Pain: A Comedy’
If you think joy and chronic pain can’t go together, then you need to come hear Karma Waltonen’s stand-up routine, “Chronic Pain: A Comedy,” 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday (May 22), in 194 . This event, free and open to the public, concludes the 2018-19 Campus Community Book Project: The Book of Joy, by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with Douglas Abrams.
Waltonen is a lecturer in the University Writing Program and leads the First-Year Seminar “Writing and Performing Stand-Up Comedy.”
She gave “Chronic Pain” a test run at °ϲĻϢ Davis in 2017 and subsequently presented the routine at conferences in Wales and England. She presented “Chronic Pain” as a book project program earlier this year on the Sacramento campus, and now she is bringing her routine to the Davis campus.
Waltonen advocated for The Book of Joy as the 2018-19 book project selection — she’s a longtime member of the selection committee — and said her routine shows some of the book’s advice in practice. “The audience is able to see someone suffering who still laughs, who still searches for joy,” she said.
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