One Book, One Harper

1. What if everyone at Harper read the same book? One Book, One One Book, One Harper One Book, One

2. What is One Book, One Harper? • a collaborative effort to encourage students, faculty and other college staff to read a common book and participate in a variety of academic, cultural, and social activities related to the book. • will explore one book per academic year, with related events and activities spanning the fall and spring semesters • Books are chosen by a committee of faculty and administrators from all areas of the college. Selections are based on the books’ readability and the presence of multi-disciplinary themes.

3. Objectives: • Emphasize reading as an important element of the college experience • Encourage and enhance student participation in the intellectual life of the campus by encouraging open discussion, and critical thinking about a common theme; • Provide an introduction to the expectations of higher education; • Create a sense of community by increasing student-to-student interaction and student-to-faculty interaction; • Integrate an academic and social experience into the campus community; • Help students make connections between classroom and out-of-classroom experiences.

4. National Endowment for the Arts“To Read or Not to Read”2007 Findings of this study: • Younger Americans read less and they read less well. Because they read less well, they have lower levels of academic achievement • Poor reading skills correlate heavily with lack of employment, lower wages, and fewer opportunities for advancement. • Significantly worse reading skills are found among prisoners than in the general adult population. • Deficient readers are less likely to become active in civic and cultural life, most notably in volunteerism and voting.

5. Our Response?A commitment to student success!

6. The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart by Glenn Taylor This is the story of TrenchmouthTaggart, the oldest living man in West Virginia, born in 1903. This book follows his life as the adopted son of a mountain woman, his life-long dental affliction, his stint as a coal mine war sniper, as a musician and as a prize-winning reporter.

7. Themes: • Physical deformities/disabilities • Medical conditions • Religion • Appalachian culture • Parenting • Nontraditional families • Child development • Sexuality • Race relations • Coal mine wars • Music • Education • Union/Labor relations • Language/dialect/linguistics

8. Bookstorepermanent display. Book will be available all year at cost ($10) • Hullaballoo—live readings and books raffled off to students • Book on reserve in library for faculty use • Harper Cafeteria –Appalachian themed menu during event weeks (Sept/Oct/Feb/Apr)

9. Theme related events and activities: • To Appalachia! Readings from The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart • Finding your Muse: Harper Authors  and the Creative Writing Process  • Striking a (Coal) Nerve: A discussion of strikes, unions and the coal mining community • Appalachia Meets Chicago: Banjos and Blues

10. Faculty in all disciplines are encouraged to integrate/infuse the book or one of its themes into their curriculum by: • Having the book or part of the book as required reading in your courses • Classroom discussion/projects/assignments/learning activities based on a theme included in the book • Have students attend or participate in One Book, One Harper events as they relate to themes contained in the book • Take part in various One Book, One Harper activities

11. Curriculum infusion support: • Curriculum infusion workshops (Today at 1! X212) • One Book, One Harper Blackboard site • One Book, One Harper curriculum infusion subcommittee members

12. One Book, One Harper committee: • Michele Ukleja(Co-coordinator) • Amy Kammerman(Co-coordinator) • ShanteBishop • Tonya Dixon • Jim Edstrom • Cathy Ender • Linda Frank • NjambiKamoche • Norma Grassini-Komara • Judy Marwick • Richard Middleton-Kaplan • Pardess Mitchell • Diana Sharp • Linda Smith • Joe Wachter

13. Audio and photo credits: • Audio courtesy of: • Library of Congress. American Memory • Tending the Commons. Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia • Steele’s Rag performed by Jack Krack • Photos courtesy of: • Minewar.org • Library of Congress. American Memory • Tending the Commons. Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia • Digital Library of Appalachia

14. One Book, One Harper website