Faculty workshop: Teaching the Books of the Year

by Kathleen McCoy  |   

Thursday, Jan. 15, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Consortium Library, Room 307

An informal discussion of ways to incorporate the UAA/APU Books of the Year into spring semester courses is planned for Thursday, Jan. 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Consortium Library, Room 307. The workshop is with Shannon Gramse, College Prep and Developmental Studies.

The theme for this year's program, Alaska's Native Peoples: A Call to Understanding, arose out of activities related to the Ford Foundation Difficult Dialogues initiative on both campuses. A faculty committee selected Yuuyaraq: The Way of the Human Being by Yup'ik author Harold Napoleon, which outlines the effects and continuing impact of the epidemics that afflicted Alaska's Native peoples from the 1770s through the 1940s, and Growing Up Native in Alaska, a series of interviews with young Native leaders by Anchorage historian Alexandra McClanahan.

The committee also created a companion reader, Do Alaska Native People Get Free Medical Care (and other Frequently Asked Questions about Alaska Native Issues and Cultures), which provides responses to common questions about Alaska Native issues and includes recommended readings on a wide variety of topics. All three books are available at the Campus Bookstore; the companion reader is free while supplies last and can be accessed online at the Books of the Year Web site.

Several events related to the book are planned this spring. Please join us as we share ideas for how to discuss these important books and issues in our courses this semester. For more information, contact Christina Gheen at anccs@uaa.alaska.edu.

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