Tension City

2/5

My problem while I was reading Tension City was that I just didn’t find that it was particularly insightful in regards to presenting actual behind the scenes information. There was an early page listing quotations from Bush and Reagan talking about how the debates really help voters think about issues and I remember thinking just how thoroughly uninteresting that is.  Yep, the debates are important.  Yep, a lot goes on behind the scenes.  Seems on the one hand to be mostly obvious comments like that or the sort of thing you are either interested in or not.  I can’t remember details or stories that were really striking or compelling beyond being just sort of casually interesting.

I was also bothered by the lack of timeliness of the book.  For many of our choices that might not matter but with this one, a book that repeatedly talks about very specific dates, it felt very out of date to me.

But mostly it was the style.  There was rarely a paragraph throughout this whole book that was more than a few sentences at best.  This is no doubt very reportor-ly in nature but I found it especially inelegant, especially for such a respected figure.

Also, this book, once you are finished, doesn’t really lead to any compelling conversations other than political intrigue.  I find it extremely difficult to imagine what I would talk about with this book in class.  I can’t remember any chapter where he stops to talk about some bigger picture regarding, well, anything complicated.

I want to say that I really went in open minded with the book.  Seems like it could be an okay fit for our debate.  But I am really strongly opposed to this one.

Some of My Friends Are Black

3/5

I thought this was really a lively read and as I went through it I thought of a number of conversations I would love to have in my LSEM course.  One of the strengths of this book is how nicely it sets up just how complicated race, and any steps towards equality, truly are.  It addresses economics, schooling, politics, geography . . . all in accessible ways . . . and keeps coming back to the idea that there aren’t easy solutions to these big problems.  That isn’t his main point necessarily, but it is one I kept thinking about.

However, and this isn’t the fault of the book necessarily, I often wished it would talk about just one thing more thoroughly.  I really cannot imagine using this book to focus very tightly on any single thing.  There is a part early on about the confederate flag that could be a whole week of class.  There are sections about Obama that seem topical, but a lot to explore as well.  It moves very quickly through some complex stuff and we often just have to take his word for it, especially when he sets up all of this history.  I felt sometimes it defined racism in really helpful ways and then at other moments it defined racism in ways that would take a long time to unpack in class.  I can imagine large swaths of students being turned away by early mentions of Obama in ways that, again, are no fault of the book.  This is a great book to start some really tough conversations, but about halfway through the book I saw my interest flagging and I can imagine students might as well.  I wish there wasn’t so much to cover with this book.  I can imagine this as a book well utilized in more upper level classes.

The Blue Sweater

Selection Requirement Checklist

• Readability for 17 to 18 year old student (easy-intermediate-difficult)
  • The stories Novogratz outlines are simply told. However, the economic concepts may toughen the terrain for new college students.

• Less than 300 pages
  • 288 pages

• Speaker Price
  • Novogratz speaking fee is $15,000 to $20,000 plus travel expenses (note: she has spoken at 5 Ted Talk Conferences)

• Easily adaptable across LSEM, disciplines, majors, etc.
  • Novogratz provides a great message for young citizen leaders who aspire to have impact on their community (or the world). That said, The Blue Sweater is a business book, and it explores market behaviors and influences. Concepts that may not be of easy consumption for all new students.

• The Blue Sweater has a reader’s guide of group discussion topics that would be a valuable teaching tool for all LSEM instructors.

• Current theme, current event
  • Alleviating poverty, humble leadership practices, and the values an interdependent society. All topical, and meaningful subjects for a younger generation.

• Price less than $15
  • Paperback, $14.39 (Amazon.com)

• Promotes critical and/or creative thinking
  • The Blue Sweater presents an alternative way to approach philanthropy. Novogratz details the trial and error she experienced that led her to think different in how to effectively address poverty solutions, an investment style she termed, “patient capital.”

• How to incorporate into LSEM class
  • An LSEM class could work collectively to design a community outreach program based on the tenets of patient capital.

Some of My Best Friends are Black

Selection Requirement Checklist

• Readability for 17 to 18 year old student (easy-intermediate-difficult)
  • Tanner Colby uses wit (in some cases sarcasm) to underscore his point, which may connect with new, younger students. Or in some situations they may be bothered by the humor.

• Less than 300 pages
  • 294 pages

• Speaker Price
  • Tanner Colby’s fee is $7500 plus travel from New York (side note: the idea was tossed out in the last meeting to add “star power” to the guest speaker list; what if we invited Colby to interview actor, or notable personality who probably experienced the living situations noted in the first section of the book, Letters from a Birmingham Suburb. An actor such as Aziz Ansari – Ansari’s parents are from India and he grew up in South Carolina.)

• Easily adaptable across LSEM, disciplines, majors, etc.
  • One of Colby’s major points seemed to be that it will take more than policy for people of different backgrounds to work for the advancement of any race or class that has been minimized or systematically devalued. I believe understanding this concept drive the University’s mission of developing citizen leaders, which makes it adaptable for any section of LSEM.

• Current theme, current event
  • Issues of diversity and resistance to inclusion have been (and will be) an ongoing issue. Colby’s “case studies” may open some eyes and generate necessary discussion.

• Price less than $15
  • Paperback, $15.25 (Amazon.com)

• Promotes critical and/or creative thinking
  • Not particularly. However, Colby does raise interesting points with regard the unintentional consequences of mandates integration practices.

• How to incorporate into LSEM class
  • In section III of the book, Why Do Black People Drink Hawaiian Punch?, Colby explores the power of social networks by highlighting the correlation between a professionally successful black person and the number of diversity connections they have on LinkedIn and/or Facebook. On a macro level I believe this is a powerful lesson for college students to understand.

My 2 cents

Hi everyone – very sorry for the late chime-in. I did get through The Righteous Mind. I enjoyed it and thought it’s a great choice conceptually — really getting people to think about our divided politics from 50,000 feet instead of just diving into specific disagreements we have as a country. But it’s just difficult for me to seeing it be a successful choice. The length is certainly one issue, and it also feels like a book our students would get a lot more out of after a couple of years of college — maybe not quite ready at age 18. The Jim Lehrer debate book, on the other hand, is very accessible and I think would effectively 1) convey what the debate experience will be like while also 2) teeing up some interesting conversations in a good range of classes on questions that go beyond the policy issues in the election: What (literally) should we ask of our leaders? Should personal character matter in a president? What are the obligations of a citizen in evaluating candidates for office? Does the skill of answering questions in these kinds of debates translate into the skills needed to be a good president? What are the pros and cons of having presidential candidates questioned by professional journalists versus regular citizens? The book won’t be winning any Nobel Prizes for literature, but I think in the unique circumstances of the coming year, it’s a good choice. I’ll do my best to be there for a bit tomorrow but will need to run early to another meeting. My thanks to everyone.

A Bunch of Thoughts….

I apologize for missing meetings this semester and I apologize for having to leave very early tomorrow because of EPC.  Here are some thoughts:

• I have not read the Lehrer book, but it seems like a great choice given the election next year and our role in messing up the VP debates.  A quick look through reputable online reviews seems to indicate it would be a good choice.
• I read The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.  It is an excellent book: popular and readable yet academic and germane to an election year.  It is, however, very long (~370 pages before end notes) and episodic.  I doubt our students would read it.
• I tried to read What is the What by Dave Eggers and ended up skipping around.  It is a first person story of one of the Lost Boys which unfortunately makes it a bad choice for me.  First person, based on reality, and a bit depressing.  I ended up skipping around and found anecdotes and sections I enjoyed.  I expect that with a good running start I could read it through.   We all know that our student enjoy this sort of thing much more than I do, so it might be great for our students except that it is over 500 pages long.
• I was wondering about T.H. White’s (not that one, the other one) Making of a President 1960.  It has been years but I loved that book.  And it was the first race in which a televised debate played a part.  But Amazon says that it is over 400 pages.  (Also note that T.H. White’s (yes, that one this time) Once and Future King would also be a great book to read although it is not at all relevant to the election.   It is over 600 pages.
• And last but not least it has been suggested to me that we stick with Wes Moore for one more year so that we can pick a new book at the same time we talk about how this new book will be used in the new  general education program or in fact if the new book will be used in the general education program.  I think this is a great idea UNLESS we pick a book that ties in with the election.

Yr. hmbl and obt svt,

Bill

Tension City

I (Amorette) also read “Tension City” by Jim Lehrer- I would give this book a 4/5.

Pros: I think it is an easy read for our freshmen and it is a good length (198 pages). The writing style is straight-forward and easy to follow. I think this book is very relevant because it describes Jim Lehrer’s experiences moderating many presidential and vice presidential debates over the years. I could see LSEM professors having mock debates in class, maybe with the peer mentor being the moderator. I think this book highlights some of the “behind the scenes” workings of debates which may be important for our freshmen to understand. I also like some of the professional and moral issues brought up by the author, such as completely researching a topic, being prepared, being a good listener, how to move on after making a mistake etc. All of these are interesting critical thinking topics that could be discussed in an LSEM class for any major.  We could also assign LSEM students to watch one of the debates the author discusses (like the Gore facial expressions one) and then discuss presentation of self or some other topic.

Cons: The author spends a lot of time “name dropping” and many of these news anchors etc our students may not be familiar with. At times, the book dragged on and repetitive and I fear that some of our students may not finish reading the book.

Think Like a Freak

I (Amorette) finished reading “Think Like a Freak” by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner- I would give this book 4/5 stars.

Pros: I think it is an easy read for our freshmen and it is a good length (211 pages). The authors write in an approachable and humorous manner. They share some interesting examples and I think these can be easily incorporated into LSEM classes of any major to generate class discussion and critical thinking. There isn’t much on current events,  but students could apply these thinking approaches to current events easily. They give some interesting ideas about how to think about/approach problems and these would be appropriate ways to initiate discussions on the adjustment to college life, etc.

Cons: The authors are certainly continuing to support their “Freakonomics” franchise through this book, and at times the viewpoints they present seem very one-sided and biased. This of course could be turned into a “pro” by discussing the one-sided view with the class.

Tension City

Author: Jim Lehrer

Selection Requirement Checklist

• Readability for 17 to 18 year old student (easy-intermediate-difficult)
  • Tension City reads as a play-by-play of televised presidential debates, and some vice-presidential debates, taking place between 1960 and 2008. Mr. Lehrer backfilled the debate reports some participant stories, as well his assessment of the impact of a particular debate. All of which was easy to consume.

• Less than 300 pages
  • 198 pages, including introduction

• Speaker Price
  • According to the Washington Speakers Bureau website, $40,000+ (http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/speaker.cfm?SpeakerID=759#)

• Easily adaptable across LSEM, disciplines, majors, etc.
  • For the most part, yes. Tension City raises many questions and ideas to explore across all LSEM classes. For example, Mr. Lehrer addresses the effectiveness of interview preparation, and body language. Concepts that all students need to be mindful for as the approach professional settings. However, for those students/faculty who focus on the earth sciences this book may be hard to incorporate with coursework.

• Current theme, current event
  • Lehrer explores the importance of debates, public discourse, and the practice of interviewing. All three topics are relevant for 2016 as it is an election year, and Longwood given the institution’s opportunity to host the vice-presidential debate.

• Price less than $15
  • Paperback, $15.77 (Amazon.com)

• Promotes critical and/or creative thinking
  • In the last chapter of the book, “Good Nights,” Mr. Lehrer outlines what he feels are the critical responsibilities involved with being a moderator – research and engaged listening.

• How to incorporate into LSEM class
  • You could set up a series of mock debates within the classroom. For example, in the exercise science LSEM section I would have the student argue the merit of Olympic lifting versus high intensity interval training.

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain

Authors: Stephen J. Dubner & Steven D. Levitt

Selection Requirement Checklist 

• Readability for 17 to 18 year old student (easy-intermediate-difficult)
  • The written prose is easy to comprehend, however the subject matter may be tough to digest for a young person who may be intimidated by the social sciences or economics.

• Less than 300 pages
  • 211 pages

• Speaker Price
  • Steven D. Levitt – appears negotiable; represented by The Harry Walker Agency (http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker/Steven-Levitt.cfm?Spea_ID=816); note: has spoken at 2 Ted conferences (2004 & 2008)
  • Stephen J. Dubner – appears negotiable; represented by The Harry Walker Agency (http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker/Stephen-Dubner.cfm?Spea_ID=827
  • Authors have spoken in tandem

• Easily adaptable across LSEM, disciplines, majors, etc.
  • In essence, Think Like a Freak presents a methodology for creative problem solving, which could be a benefit for any class or discipline.

• Current theme, current event
  • Think Like a Freak addresses macro topics and philosophical thought positions. As such the book does not connect specifically to any current affairs topic. However, the case studies presented in the book can be connected to major events on campus. For example, chapter 8 deals with persuasion. With the VP debates in October, a teacher could conduct an in class debate.

• Price less than $15
  • Paperback, $10.48 (Amazon.com)

• Promotes critical and/or creative thinking
  • Levitt and Dubner outline six (6) principles involved with thinking differently – humility (ch. 2), assessing the root of a problem (ch. 4), clearing your mind of pretense (ch. 5), utilizing incentives (ch. 6), developing creative solutions (ch. 7), and the art of persuasion (ch. 8).

• How to incorporate into LSEM class
  • Think Like a Freak works from the assumption that the reader has a firm understanding of the tenets of scientific method, and some principles social science. I think an LSEM teacher may need to spend a class or two, making sure the class understands those “basic” principles. From that point a teacher could set up in discussions about specific chapters and explore the case studies.