The UCC College Novel Program is funded through the
Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
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2009-2010
UCC College Novel Selection
two books by Junot Diaz
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
&
Drown
The College Novel Committee is proud to announce that the college novel for 2009-2010 will be two books by Junot Diaz: The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a novel, and Drown, a collection of short stories. Faculty are encouraged to use either or both books in their classes over the summer or in the fall and spring semesters. We chose two books by the same writer again so people teaching two levels of a class (ie, ENG 101 and ENG 102) could teach two different books but still be part of the College Novel project.
Prof. Sophia Mitra will continue to chair the College Novel Committee for the 2009-2010 academic year. Also, Prof. Mahua De, in the ESL dept. will be co-chairing the college novel committee. Thank you for your ongoing support of the College Novel at UCC!
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Junot Díaz visits Google's Mountain View, CA, headquarters to discuss his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." This event took place September 26, 2007, as part of the Authors@Google Series.~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tD45oj1ro
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College Novel
Discussion Seminar
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Seminar Rooms A & B
Details
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2008 - 2009
UCC College Novel Program Selection
Two books by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake
&
Interpreter of Maladies
The College Novel Committee is proud to announce that the college novel for 2008-09 will be two books by Bengali writer Jhumpa Lahiri: The Namesake, a novel, and Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories. Faculty are encouraged to use either or both books in their classes in the fall and spring semesters. We chose two books by the same writer this time so people teaching two levels of a class (ie, ENG 101 and ENG 102) could teach two different books but still be part of the College Novel project.
The new chair of the College Novel Committee for the 2008-09 academic year is Dr. Sophia Mitra; she will announce activities and events related to the College Novel.
A blogsite has been created where you can find important
information and articles/readings related to the
college novels chosen for this year:
http://jhumpalahiri.blogspot.com/
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2007 - 2008
UCC College Novel Program Selection
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
ISBN 978-0-374-10523-5
By overwhelming majority vote, the College Novel for 2007-08 will be A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. This is something of a departure from the recent choices in the College Novel program, as it is a memoir rather than a work of fiction. The story is about Beah’s experience as a child soldier in the civil war in Sierra Leone from 1993-1996. There is an excerpt from The New York Times in January at this link. Other links of interest can be found at the following:
http://www.alongwaygone.com/index.html, the official website for the novel
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2000/08/00_beah_good-bad.htm
Powell’s Books http://www.powells.com/interviews/ishmaelbeah.html
Reading Group Guides.com http://readinggroupguides.com/guides3/long_way_gone1.asp
We are particularly happy about this selection because it fits in well with the theme of the Overcoming Hatred/Creating Community program for 2007-08 (more on that to come soon).
Anyone interested in leading a discussion or participating in a workshop on A Long Way Gone should let me know as soon as possible so we can begin to create a program of events for 2007-08. We are also planning to create a student blog on the College Novel, as well as an online discussion for faculty and staff. There is a lot more to come about this fascinating memoir, and we look forward to the campus discussions and events over the next academic year.
Thanks to everyone who voted; stay tuned for more information.
Susannah Chewning
Chair, College Novel Committee
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UCC Blog for A Long Way Gone
http://longwaygone2.blogspot.com
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