UICHR’s One Community, One Book reading program expanding
‘A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier’ announced as 2008 selection
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
‘A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier’ announced as 2008 selection
This fall, the community-wide common book program – One Community, One Book – coordinated by the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights (UICHR) with support from numerous community members and organizations, will expand to more actively include UI students, faculty and staff.
“A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” by Ishmael Beah is the selected book for the 2008 One Community, One Book reading project.
Begun in 2001 by Dorothy Paul and Burns Weston at the UICHR, One Community, One Book began as a countywide reading project to bring together every adult and adolescent in Johnson County to discuss the same human rights-related text. During the past two years, it has expanded to include other neighboring communities as well.
This year marks another significant change for One Community, One Book. With support from the Office of the Provost, the UICHR will provide copies of “A Long Way Gone” to all incoming undergraduates at the UI, approximately 4,300 students. Additionally, the Department of Rhetoric in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will integrate this year’s selection into the courses taught to satisfy the General Education requirement in Rhetoric. Other events, both curricular and extra-curricular, will help integrate the program into the University’s fall semester and expand the common book program to all UI students, including an on-campus lecture by the author. Planning is ongoing for activities to engage both students and community members.
“Expanding One Community, One Book to include all first year students is a particularly exciting example of the projects of the Student Success Team, each of which we expect to increase student involvement in high quality, educationally purposeful experiences,” Tom Rocklin, Vice Provost, said.
“A Long Way Gone” is the story of Beah who, at the age of 12, fled attacking rebels in his home country of Sierra Leone during that country’s civil war. After fleeing, Beah became a member of the army and was forced to participate in casual mass slaughter until, at the age of 15, he was brought to a rehabilitation center sponsored by UNICEF and partnering non-governmental organizations. He arrived in the United States in his late teens, finished high school and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Oberlin College in Ohio. He is now a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and has established a foundation dedicated to helping former child soldiers reintegrate into society and improve their lives.
“We are excited about getting the campus and community literally on the same page,” said Downing Thomas, director of UICHR and associate dean of International Programs. “Beah’s gripping story will provide opportunities for new kinds of interaction, both in and out of the classroom, between students and faculty members, and also between students and members of the community. It’s is an excellent way to encourage students to reflect on citizenship and engagement; and we believe that a book on human rights issues in a global context sets exactly the right tone.”
The reading project will run throughout the fall semester. Teachers, students, librarians, book groups and others are encouraged to participate. By announcing the selection now, the project sponsors hope to allow time for groups to plan to read the book, participate in fall community discussion forums and for teachers to plan discussions around the book.
Beah's book has recently been the cause of controversy, specifically surrounding the time frame in which he says events took place.
"Controversies abound in every subject and are an integral part of what learning is about," Thomas said. "The best way to deal with controversies at the university is to teach through them, not avoid them. We have chosen 'A Long Way Gone' because it raises key questions about human rights and child labor. The book and the controversy surrounding it also allow us to consider other questions about the nature of memory and memoirs."
The goal of the One Community, One Book project is to encourage people to read the selected book and, through public and private discussion, to develop a greater community awareness of human rights issues locally, nationally and internationally. Discussion questions will be available online at the start of the 2008-2009 academic year.
In addition to UICHR, past project sponsors have included the UI International Writing Program, Prairie Lights Books, the UI Libraries, Iowa City Public Library, Coralville Public Library, North Liberty Community Library, Hancher Auditorium, Hills Bank & Trust Company, Iowa Book LLC, Iowa City Human Rights Commission, Solon Public Library, UI Charter Committee on Human Rights, UI Department of English, the Iowa Writers Workshop, UI Department of History, UI International Programs and University Book Store. City High School and West High School have also participated.
For more information about One Community, One Book, the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.