The public and UVM community are invited to participate in Burlington’s newest book club, a partnership between Mayor Miro Weinberger and the University of Vermont’s Humanities Center, which will hold its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Featuring free books, snacks and refreshments, the Mayor’s Book Group will include interactive presentations by the mayor, UVM faculty and guests, followed by group discussions facilitated by scholars. More than 50 people have signed up for the event, which will run from 5-6:30 p.m. at UVM’s Billings Library, North Lounge.
“The Mayor’s Book Group will explore thought-provoking ideas relevant to civic life, culture, and history,” says Mayor Weinberger. “This exciting partnership between the city and UVM’s Humanities Center is a great opportunity to enhance the social and cultural fabric of Burlington by bringing engaged citizens together for lively, respectful dialogue about big ideas and the joy of reading.”
The book being discussed is An Idea Whose Time Has Come, journalist Todd Purdum’s dramatic non-fiction account of the creation of U.S. Civil Rights Act. The text was announced as the group’s inaugural book earlier this year on the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1964 legislation, which outlawed discrimination on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.
“The UVM Humanities Center works to build civic and intellectual communities by bringing people together to explore topics and ideas that impact today’s real-world issues,” says Prof. David Jenemann, who co-directs UVM’s Humanities Center with Prof. Luis Vivanco. “We see the humanistic disciplines -- with their skills in critical-thinking, historical perspective, persuasion, debate and ethics -- as essential to that engagement.”
To join the Mayor’s Book Group, people can pick up their free book before the event at the Fletcher Free Library or UVM’s Old Mill building, Room A506. A limited number of books will be available at the event on a first-come, first-served basis. To join the conversation online, people can post comments or questions before the event on the UVM Humanities Center Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag #BTVUVMreads.
The Mayor’s Book Group will meet up to three times per year. Learn more about the UVM Humanities Center’s new programing efforts at www.uvm.edu/humanitiescenter.
About the UVM Humanities Center
The Mayor’s Book Group is one of several new efforts launched by UVM's Humanities Center, which has been reinvigorated under new leadership.
“We are committed to dispelling the misperception that the humanities and arts have somehow lost their relevance,” says Prof. Luis Vivanco, co-director of UVM's Humanities Center. “The truth is, we need the humanities now more than ever to explore the big and enduring questions and dilemmas that face us, which are exactly the types of issue we plan to explore in the Mayor’s Book Group.”
Founded in 1994, the UVM Humanities Center is a hub for more than 250 UVM faculty in the humanities and fine arts. It serves to connect these scholars -- in disciplines ranging from history, languages, religious studies and classics, to philosophy, linguistics, music, art, theatre, film and cultural anthropology -- to the community, other scholars, and educational and funding opportunities. Other recent initiatives include:
- Lattie F. Coor Collaborative Fellowships: $25,000 per year to support the formation of multi-disciplinary cohorts of UVM faculty members to examine issues of pressing concern in the humanities and fine arts. Each cohort will have one Organizing Fellow (funded with $2,500) and up to four Collaborative Fellows ($2,000 each). In addition, the group will be provided with $2,500 for collective activities. The deadline for 2014-15 applications is Nov. 20.
- Cultivating Multi-Disciplinary Collegial Networks: $6,000 to facilitate collaboration among small groups of scholars (up to $750 per group) across the university interested in exploring common themes that connect their work.
About the Mayor’s Book Group
Profs. Emily Bernard (English), Alec Ewald (Political Studies, Honors College), Luis Vivanco (Anthropology) and David Jenemann (Film and Television Studies), Fletcher Free Library Director Rubi Simon and other special guests will participate in this city-wide discussion of an engaging account of a pivotal moment in American history.
The UVM Humanities Center will provide books for up to 200 participants and will provide snacks and refreshments for the event. The full name of the group’s inaugural book is An Idea Whose Time Has Come: Two Presidents, Two Parties, and the Battle for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Todd S. Purdum. All are welcome to the event, even if you have not read the book.
