UM Common Reading Experience 2016: Ten Little Indians

Don't Miss Our Fall Common Reading Events

All Events Are Free and Open To The Public!

  • University of Mississippi Native American Artifacts and Memorabilia | August 5, 2016 - January 7, 2017 | J.D. Williams Library 2nd floor Display Case -  Come by the J.D. Williams Library to view an exhibit of original Native American pottery, documents, and other unique items from the University's Departments of Archives & Special Collections and Sociology & Anthropology. Descriptions of items on loan from the Department of Sociology & Anthropology can be found at the top of this page. 

  • Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) | Thursday, September 22, 4:00 p.m. | Lamar Hall Room 131 - Dr. Keene will discuss Native Appropriations: Cultural Representations and Pop Culture in Cyber Space. Students will enjoy Dr. Keene's candid and open discussion about how Native people are represented in main stream media and how she has made it her life mission to advocate for Native Americans through her popular social media sites. 

  • Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture | Thursday, September 22, 5:30 p.m. | Bryant Hall Room 209 - Rolena Adorno, Sterling Professor of Spanish, Yale University, "What does Columbus Day mean now?"

  • Banned Books Week Workshop | Wednesday, September 28, 4:00 p.m. | J.D. Williams Library Room 106E -       Sherman Alexie's books have been challenged across the U.S. Learn about other books that are frequently challenged in schools and libraries every year and what you can do to prevent book banning. 

  • Making Slavery in the Mississippi Hills: Chickasaw Slaveholders, Race, Religion, and Gender, 1810s - 1840s | Thursday, October 13, 12:00 p.m. | J.D. Williams Library, Archives & Special Collections, Faulkner Room - Bring your lunch and join us for our Fall Lecture Series with Ph.D. candidate, Justin Rogers. 

  • Rowan Oak Excavation | Saturday, October 15, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Come to William Faulkner's estate for a unique opportunity to wtiness a public archaeology excavation led by University of Mississippi archaeologists and students at Rowan Oak. These excavations will attempt to identify slave quarter remains at this historic plantation site. Done in conjunction with Public Archaeology class. 

  • Department of English Baine Lecture | Monday, October 24, 4:30 p.m. | Barnard Observatory, Tupelo Room - Kelly Wisecup, Assistant Professor of English, Northwestern University, "Nineteenth-Century Facebook: John Ridge and the Archives of Cherokee Resistance."

  • Mississippi Choctaw Indians Social Dancing | Thursday, October 27, 11:15 a.m. | Union Plaza - Come and witness an exciting cultural demonstration of Social Dancing by members of the only federally recognized tribe in Mississippi: The Choctaw Indians. There will be time for questions after the half-hour show.   

  • Mississippi Choctaw Indians Stickball Demonstration  | Thursday, October 27, 12:00 p.m. | Union Room 405  - Join us in Union 405 for a cultural overview of how this rugged game has been rooted in tradition for thousands of years. Then grab a toli stick and join members of the Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe in the Grove as they demonstrate the basics of how to play Stickball.   

  • Smoke Signals Film Screening | Monday, November 7, 5:00 p.m. | Lamar Hall 126 - Come watch the award-winning, all-Native American 1998 film production with the Department of Anthropology and The Center for Inclusion and Cross Cultural Engagement.  Jeffrey Washburn will lead a discussion after the film. Screenplay by Sherman Alexie, based on his short story "This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" from his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 

  • Are You Ready? Dialogue Series: Let's Start the Conversation | Thursday, November 17, 3:00 p.m. | Union Room 405Join in the conversation with our local panel of experts as they discuss Indigenous studies in North Mississippi.  

Previous CRE Titles

2015 The Education of a Lifetime by Robert Khayat

An 1962, while a riot was in full swing on the University of Mississippi campus over the admission of James Meredith, Robert Khayat was an All-Pro kicker for the newly integrated Washington Redskins. He had no way of knowing that, thirty-five years later, he would be leading the University of Mississippi through one of its greatest challenges — its association with the Confederate flag. Robert Khayat’s The Education of a Lifetime reveals his childhood days in Moss Point, Mississippi; the state’s segregationist policies that prevented his SEC championship baseball team from playing in the College World Series; and the sadness of watching his father’s arrest. These seemingly disparate events worked to prepare him for his future battle with the vestiges of racial strife that continued to haunt Ole Miss’ culture when he was selected as the University’s fifteenth Chancellor. Go to the Guide

 

2014 Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan

At the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, TN, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of whom were young women from small towns, were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few know. The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge's secret was revealed and changed the world forever. Go to the Guide

book cover 2013 The Unforgiving Minute  by Craig Mullaney

In this surprise bestseller, West Point grad, Rhodes scholar, Airborne Ranger, and U. S. Army Captain Craig Mullaney recounts his unparalleled education and the hard lessons that only war can teach. While stationed in Afghanistan, a deadly firefight with al-Qaeda leads to the loss of one of his soldiers. Years later, after that excruciating experience, he returns to the United States to teach future officers at the Naval Academy. Written with unflinching honesty, this is an unforgettable portrait of a young soldier grappling with the weight of war while coming to terms with what it means to be a man. Go to the Guide

book cover 2012 Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Edgar Award-winning author Tom Franklin returns with his most accomplished and resonant novel so far—an atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi. In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town. More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades. Go to the Guide

book cover 2011 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. Go to the Guide