Book Groups

Book groups bring faculty together to discuss literature related to teaching, learning, or other relevant topics in higher education. They offer a space for educational development, community building, and sharing of ideas among colleagues. Discussions often center on how to apply concepts from the books to the teaching practices of group members.  

Purpose and Benefits of Book Groups:

• Reflection and Growth. Book clubs encourage reflection on current teaching practices and provide a space for exploring new ideas.
• Knowledge Sharing. Discussions allow faculty to share insights, experiences, and strategies related to themes and issues in higher education.
• Professional Development. Book groups provide a low-cost way for faculty to engage with new ideas and pedagogical approaches.
• Community Building. They foster connections among faculty members, promoting collaboration and a sense of belonging.

Facilitator: Jenn Caputo

Who Believed in You unpacks four critical elements of transformative mentorship—mutual trust, shared values, meaningful commitment, and the importance of instilling confidence—and offers guideposts and powerful illustrations from actual mentorship journeys that both show the way and inspire. Through unleashing the power of transformative mentorship, you can change someone’s life—and that can change the world.

Meeting format: In-person in LIB 348
Meeting dates:
September 19, 11 am – 12 pm
October 3, 11 am – 12 pm
October 17, 11 am – 12 pm

Facilitator: Paula Calahan

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development. Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Meeting format: Remote – Microsoft Teams
Meeting dates:
September 24, 1 – 2 pm
October 15, 1 – 2 pm
November 12, 1 – 2 pm