All are welcome for any discussion and books are available to borrow through the Psychology Main Office or ebooks through the Clark Library.
If you would like to be reminded of the upcoming meeting and provided with discussion questions, please email Alena Esposito (aesposito@clarku.edu) to be added to the mailing list.
Semester Schedule
Friday, February 18, 12 – 1 p.m.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Major Theme: Racism in the US
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
Friday, March 18, 12 – 1 p.m.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Major Theme: Gender Identity and Trans Rights
Laurie Frankel’s This Is How It Always Is is a book about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it’s about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again; parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts; children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don’t get to keep them forever.
Friday, April 15, 12 – 1 p.m.
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba
Major Theme: Abolitionism and the Justice System
With a foreword by Naomi Murakawa and chapters on seeking justice beyond the punishment system, transforming how we deal with harm and accountability, and finding hope in collective struggle for abolition, Kaba’s work is deeply rooted in the relentless belief that we can fundamentally change the world. As Kaba writes, “Nothing that we do that is worthwhile is done alone.”
Friday, May 6, 12 – 1 p.m.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennet (April)
Major Theme: Race Relations in the US
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.