University Freshmen Summer Reading 2012

Freshmen Summer Reading Book

Each summer the incoming St. John’s University freshmen receive a book to read. This year’s book is Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Books will be mailed to the students in the early part of the summer. As the semester progresses the content of the book will be woven into some of the freshmen courses. In addition, special events which will include the authors will be planned.

Visit the St. John's Campus Guide site to access further details and resources at:  http://stjohns.campusguides.com/stjfrb12

~For information about Lectures/Book Discussions  click here

Post Lecture Panel Discussion!
There will be a panel discussion by members of the Government & Politics Department, entitled, "Engaging Half the Sky." The panel will reflect on the themes presented by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky, in their March 12th lecture, but will also examine the more political aspects of the talk.

Engaging Half the Sky
Date
 
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Time
Common Hour-1:50-3:15PM
Presenters
Dr. Barbara Koziak
Dr. Fred Coccozzeli 
Dr. Uma Tripathi
Place 
DAC, Room 406

Book Description from Amazon.com

"From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.

They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS.

Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.

Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen."

Visit the web site for more information about the Half the Sky Movement at: www.halftheskymovement.org.