Book Group As Research

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In joining a book group you are committing to

• Attend five group meetings (minimum)
• Arrive at each meeting having completed the reading segment
• Prepare three talking points to stimulate group discussion
• Agree to write up a brief synopsis of the main, most interesting points raised in your meeting
• Suggest discussion questions pertinent either to each chapter or to sections of reading
• Contribute to the group’s presentation to the class
• Write a personal evaluation of your performance and participation
• Complete the group process

Once you commit to a group, and have met one time you are committed to that group for the duration of the project.

You further agree to stay in contact with Connie if you or the group is encountering difficulties.

  This is a 50-point project. You complete this project by providing the following evidence: 

• Group Meeting Notes showing that you have attended all five meetings arriving with three talking points and following up with a brief synopsis (15)

• Created discussion questions pertinent to each section or chapter in your notes (10)

• Contributed to the group’s in-class presentation (10)

• Class competently answered questions on the book (10)

• Completed personal evaluation (5)

 The Books

For folks interested in Natural Sciences, Environment

Collapse: How Societies Choose To  Fail, by Jared Diamond

From the Publisher

“In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe - one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future. “

 For folks interested in Economics, Globalization

The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman
From the Publisher

“In The World Is Flat, Friedman at once shows "how and why globalization has now shifted into warp drive" (Robert Wright, Slate) and brilliantly demystifies the new flat world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, he explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; how governments and societies can, and must, adapt; and why terrorists want to stand in the way. “

And, for folks interested in Social Theory, Environmental Studies

Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn

Quinn’s books have been described as “unnerving” and “transformative” since they fundamentally challenge the story that developed nations and civilizations tell themselves about why they are entitled to such privileged access to the planet’s resources.  It makes a great reference for our course since many of the stories the West tells itself about its supremacy today are stories that were being formed during our period of focus.  “A thoughtful, fearlessly low-key novel about the role of our species on the planet.” NYT

Each of these books is available used so you need not spend a lot acquiring a copy however you DO need to get busy ordering yours.