ESU One Book, One Campus Opens Discussions to Campus and Community

 
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania is starting the conversation. The third annual One Book, One Campus initiative is focusing on a book that takes its readers on a thought-provoking journey through a fictitious world of cultural and racial alienation. “Your Face in Mine” by Jess Row tells the story of Martin Wilkinson, who pays a hefty sum to undergo something called racial reassignment surgery, to transform from a white Jewish man to an African American. This year’s One Book, One Campus theme is “Diversity: Where are we going?

“We are concerned about all of our students being treated well,” Doreen Tobin, D.Ed., vice president for student affairs, said. “Our theme evolved into, ‘Where do we go from here?’”

Row’s book is incorporated into the curriculum of a variety of courses and creates a common reading experience that will enable first-year students to get to know one another at the university, according to Peter Pruim, Ph.D., professor of philosophy and chair of the One Book committee. To encourage engagement, Prium has called on faculty and staff at ESU to create book discussions for six weeks. These evening events are open to anyone from the campus or local communities and are intended to spark critical thinking and provoke debate. There are six discussions scheduled to take place in Lower Dansbury on ESU’s campus from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., which started Wednesday, September 2.

“We’d like to see everyone reading Jess Row’s book. The committee also felt it was important to expand the discussion beyond our campus this year,” added Pruim. “And so we’ve added faculty-led book discussions that will take place out in the community. What a great way for book clubs, avid readers and fiction enthusiasts to take part in a great initiative that benefits us all!”

Pruim said most of the public discussions will take place at coffee shops throughout Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg. The first public discussion is scheduled for 3 p.m., Saturday, September 26 at Café Duet in Stroudsburg.

Author Jess Row will also be on campus on October 27. The general public is invited to register for a special reception with Jess Row from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building. Cost to attend the reception, which includes heavy passed hors d’oeuvres and a photo opportunity with the author, is $75 with a portion of the ticket price to benefit future One Book, One Campus initiatives. Reception tickets are include a reserved seat for Row’s address at 8 p.m., followed by a book signing at 9 p.m. Row’s address is free of charge for those who opt not to attend the reception, To register for the reception or to sponsor a student’s attendance, visit esu.edu/onebook. Copies of the book are also available for purchase on the website or in the University Bookstore located on Normal Street in East Stroudsburg.

The schedule for the One Book discussions for the semester follow:

On Campus Discussions All to be held in Lower Dansbury from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Open to all members of the ESU campus and surrounding community.

• Tuesday, September 15
• Wednesday, September 30
• Tuesday, October 20
• Wednesday, October 28
• Tuesday, November 10

Off Campus Discussions

• Saturday, September 26, 3 p.m., Café Duet, Stroudsburg
• Saturday, October 10, 3 p.m., Hughes Public Library, Stroudsburg
• Tuesday, October 13, 7 p.m., Starbucks, Stroudsburg
• Saturday, October 24, 11 a.m., Pocono Cinema and Cultural Center, East Stroudsburg

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