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Shepherd University's Common Reading initiative is a way to involve campus and community in the reading and discussion of a single work. Events run throughout the year and here is the current events schedule for this year. This year's Common Reading selection is Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson; its call number is JK1726.R535 2023 Copies of this work are temporarily shelved at Reserve Shelf behind Public Services Desk; please ask if a copy is available. The author's bio page at Boston College lists her accomplishments, publications, and link to her substack, "Letters from an American." |
Shepherd University's Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communication provides a space for the study and practice of polite, respectful conversations about politics between groups of persons with different perspectives and ideologies.
"We Have No Princes" by Kim Phillips-Fein, published in The Nation in January 2024, reviews and discusses the book Democracy Awakening and its author in relation to the narratives Americans are being told and telling themselves about the nation and its future.
"The power of language: How words shape people, culture" by Alex Shaskevitch: This article published in Stanford News on August 22, 2019 gives an overview of language and how its use both expresses and alters perception.
"Polarization, Democracy, and Political Violence in the United States: What the Research Says": Rachel Kleinfield's September 2023 paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace gives a snapshot of what
Journals
Begin research on related topics for this year's Common Reading using "democracy," "civil unrest," and "political polarization" as keywords in the Full Text Journal Listing's title search.
Databases
Points of View Reference Center
Nexis Uni (for politics, news, law, and current issues)
Academic Search Complete (for general articles on diverse topics)
JSTOR (for history)
SocIndex with Full Text (social interactions personal and group, social work)
PsycINFO (for articles concerning human personality and behavior)
Other resources and databases can be found in the Electronic Resources research guide; the resources list also has a subject guide for easier research.