Still Time for a Summer Read! Recommendations from PAU Faculty and Staff

Summer reading lists conjure up visions of lounging poolside or on the beach with a good book in one hand and a cool drink in the other. With a month of summer to go – and hoping you’ll find time to relax with a good book - we reached out to PAU faculty and staff for suggestions. The results are both reflective of current events, as well as a distraction from them. Many also recommended some interesting podcast series and digital reads. We hope you find something that piques your interest!  

Donna Sheperis, Associate Professor  How To Be An AntiRacist – Ibran X. Kendri   Nonfiction: Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. Other recommendations by Donna Sheperis: Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit and A Burning by Megha Majumdar.   Jan Habarth, Assistant Professor Academics for Black Survival (online) I’m spending quality time this summer engaging with content posted on the academics4blacklives.com website and a number of important resources on examining white privilege, white supremacy, and racism. And otherwise will spend quality time with dissertations, new study development, data analysis, manuscripts in progress, and overhauling courses so that they will be more online-friendly next year!   Robert Wickham, Assistant Professor The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt    Here is a good read with some scientifically supported recommendations that folks at PAU could really benefit from. It was a 'best book of the year' in 2018 according to a number of reputable news outlets (e.g., NYT, FT, etc). If folks don't have the bandwidth for the full book, it was based on an article in The Atlantic, which is among the most read in the history of that publication.   Jen Lehner, Director of Institutional Research The Prof G Show - a podcast series by Scott Galloway I’ve been enjoying my new favorite podcast, the Prof G Show. He’s an authoritative voice at the intersection of business, technology, and politics – a reliable source of sharp business analysis and sound, always humorous commentary. Anyone – not just Googleites – will find it informative and amusing. He's spent quite a few episodes exploring higher education and how COVID-19 will impact and reshape it, so I feel like it's almost required material for academia.   Marsha Milan-Nochols, Adjunct Faculty Blink by Malcom Gladwell.  A very timely read! Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.   Wenwen Ni, Assistant Professor The Art of Stopping Time by Pedram ShojaiI    The Art of Stopping Time has daily mindfulness tips for busy people who want more time in their day.    Matt Cordova, Associate Professor & Co-Director, Early Intervention Clinic You're Wrong About - a podcast series by MIcahel Hobbes & Sarah Marshall I'm listening to the podcast "You're Wrong About" and enjoying it. Mike and Sarah are journalists obsessed with the past. Every week they reconsider a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.   Ricardo Muñoz, Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology From Here to Equality: Reparation for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century by William A. Darity Jr. & A. Kirsten Mullen I am finding it very informative. I had no idea of the number of times since the Civil War when reparations have been attempted and failed to be implemented at the federal level. At first, it was an attempt to do restitution for the unpaid labor of all the people who were enslaved. Later, there were attempts to provide additional restitution for all the economic atrocities of Jim Crow (See this video for a quick summary: https://youtu.be/2_gOtZ--4WE).  The arguments for reparations presented in this book are very compelling. Until I started reading this book, I had heard all sorts of reasons why reparations are either not practical or politically impossible to attain. Even Barack Obama did not support reparations. I think it is important to understand the historical facts behind the arguments for reparations. This book provides them.   Professor Munoz also recommends: An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz, Beacon Press, 2018.   Wendy Wade, Faculty Member The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes The Giver of Stars fascinated and intrigued me. The novel revolves around a group of women involved in the Pack Horse Library Project in Kentucky. Initiated by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1934, single women (mostly) kept a collection of donated books, magazines, pamphlets...and rode into the hills, some routes up to 20 miles long, bringing books to families. Teaching the people to read, learning their preferences and bringing kinds of books requested, repairing books to be re-read, supporting each other....The characters are well drawn and the time period, privilege, segregation are all part of the story. I was surprised when a friend recommended Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, to find it was about the same Pack Horse Library. The story is focused on one woman and a condition she has that causes discrimination. Both so different, but telling stories perhaps few people are aware of.     Pete Aston, Adjunct Faculty So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo I felt it important to read this book, along with many other people now, to develop a better understanding of structural injustice. In tandem with this book, I am also reading Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman. I chose this book because Dr. Herman is considered a breakthrough thinker on the nature and treatment of trauma, and I felt learning to think with more nuance about the widespread experience of trauma in our culture might help to deepen my understanding of the impact of structural injustice.   Maryasha Katz, Adjunct Faculty Busy Being Black – a podcast  I want to boost up this podcast. If we truly are committed to centering voices that have existed at the margins, then let’s do just that. This podcast is part oral history, part interview space that brings in the voice of Black Queer people. It’s a celebration and deep dive into spirituality, culture, race liberation, sexuality, empowerment and so much more.   Eirian Williams, Director of Graduate & Community Recruitment Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin I read this book back when I was in school, and decided to read it again. Also I plan to read Too Much and Not Enough by Mary Trump.   Chelby Tookey, Senior Admissions Counselor When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matters Memoir by Patrisse Kan-Cullors I thought I knew what BLM stood for, but to my surprise and delight, the phrase "Black Lives Matters" means so many more things. It's a great read and really details how much love went into creating BLM. It also dives into the ways Black and Brown (and poor) communities are disproportionately impacted by the "war on drugs" and police violence in the US. I highly recommend - everyone should read this.   I'm also listening to The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. It's about a woman who allegedly murdered her husband, then never speaks again, and the psychologist who wants to treat her. I guess it would be deemed a psychological thriller. I highly recommend to anyone who likes a little bit of mystery.   Fernando Galeano, PAU Alumnus and IT/Facilities Manager 99% Invisable - a podcast This is a podcast series about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world. They cover a range of topics from history and biographies to engineering and their hosts can somehow even make something like air conditioning design interesting! This show has allowed me to see the items in my everyday life in a new light and has inspired some projects of my own during SIP.