2011-2012 Common Read Program

Armstrong’s Common Read text for fall 2011 is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Join us in exploring the fascinating intersections of science, ethics, medicine, and human rights through participation in the 2011/2012 Common Read.

From the Cover:
"Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than twenty years later her children found out. Their lives would never be the same."

The book may be purchased at the Armstrong Bookstore.

What is a Common Read Program?

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Schedule of Events

August 19:	Kickoff Event for 2011 Common Read Fine Arts Auditorium, noon-1:30 p.m. Keynote speaker, Mary Ann Bowman Beil, Vice President of Ethics & Compliance at Memorial University Medical Center.
September 16:	2011 Common Read Lecture Student Union, Ogeechee Theater, noon - 1:00 p.m. Speaker, Bruce Greenfield, Emory University Hospital Ethics Committee
October 14:	2011 Common Read Film Student Union, Ogeechee Theater, 7 p.m. Free screening: Miss Evers' Boys starring Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne
November 21:	2011 Common Read Faculty Panel Student Union, Ogeechee TheaterPlease join Susan Cooke, College of Education, Elizabeth Desnoyers-Colas and Monica Rausch, College of Liberal Arts, and Bob Gregerson, College of Science and Technology, for a stimulating discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Facilitated by Anne Thompson, this event will provide both intellectual stimulation and a physical representation of the mechanisms professional discourse. Free and open to the public.
Writing Contest:	Deadline: March 19th, 2012. Winners will receive cash prizes awarded at the Student Scholarship and Resarch Symposium April 26th, 2012. Entry Form Rules

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What is a Common Read Program?

Common Read programs are increasingly popular at colleges and universities across the country, and they typically revolve around a single text—some fiction or nonfiction book which has been selected by a Common Read committee for everyone on campus to read.
 
Faculty from each of the university’s four colleges—the College of Education, the College of Health Professions, the College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Science and Technology—will assign the book as required reading for various courses. Other faculty and students will simply read the book because it’s the Common Read text and we all want to be a part of the university conversation.
 
Throughout the fall semester, Common Read events will provide a range of opportunities for the entire campus—students of all levels, faculty, and staff—to explore various components of the book, to consider the broader issues that it introduces, and to respond in thought-provoking and original ways to this book. These events will open several avenues for discussing the importance of this work, how it marks a specific time in our nation’s history, and how it can lead us to make future decisions more thoughtfully.
 
We will hear presentations on ethics—particularly in medicine—made by leaders from both the Savannah and Atlanta medical communities; we will view films that raise issues of ethical treatment of various populations, particularly in medical experimentation; we will hear Armstrong faculty present important topics and viewpoints from their respective academic disciplines, and—perhaps most importantly—we will recognize top student work in a culminating student symposium that demonstrates original ideas on the significance of this book as related to a variety of academic interests.
 
A Common Read, then, involves a set of shared experience that brings new and returning students into contact with other students, faculty, and staff. It provides a months-long campus-wide conversation through which every participant can identify important issues, examine our views, and grow together as an academic community.

The entire Armstrong community is encouraged and invited to participate in the program. Contact us to find out how to participate.

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