Please visit our complete Books of the Year website at www.uaa.alaska.edu/books-of-the-year/
Introduction: One of the major accomplishments of our original Difficult Dialogues project was the creation of an ongoing APU/UAA Books of the Year program.
Purpose: The purpose is to select books that introduce or highlight controversial topics, that challenge the beliefs of students and faculty, and that can serve as a shared platform for discussion in our classrooms and between our two universities.
How the program works: University administration selects a “theme” for the year, and faculty committees nominate and recommend books, Faculty Associates develop Readers’ Guides for the books, and present workshops on integrating the books and themes into classrooms in many disciplines and academic levels.
2006-2008: We explored themes of immigration and culture clash in 2006-07 using The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Ann Fadiman and The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle. We explored themes of political and religious extremism in 2007-08 using The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra. These efforts were supported in large part by our Difficult Dialogues grant and supplemented by other institutional funding.
For the 2008-09 year, we have chosen a theme of “Alaska’s Native Peoples: A Call to Understanding.” We have selected Growing Up Native in Alaska by Anchorage historian A.J. McClanahan and Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being by Harold Napoleon. We also developed a companion volume called Do Alaska Native People Get Free Medical Care? And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Alaska Native Issues and Cultures. The companion volume was created by a team of volunteers from the Alaska Native community and our own faculties who wrote the text and compiled the readings. It was edited by Libby Roderick, who chaired our Difficult Dialogue project’s curriculum design team and served as facilitator of the first four faculty intensives. It was produced at institutional expense, with supplementary funding from the Alaska Humanities Forum to cover design and printing costs.
2009-10: The theme for 2009-10 will be "Responding to Climate Change in Alaska." Faculty are invited to submit book nominations and to serve on the selection committee.
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