{"id":29679,"date":"2016-09-02T09:06:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T13:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=29679"},"modified":"2016-09-02T18:26:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-02T22:26:49","slug":"emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"EMU&#8217;s Common Read selection &#8216;Memory of Water&#8217; addresses drought, climate change and hidden knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Water, water everywhere\u2014and so many people take it for granted. As the life-giving liquid becomes an increasingly significant global resource, though, Eastern Mennonite University wants to make sure students are thinking about it.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why EMU\u2019s Intellectual Life Committee\u00a0selected <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emmiitaranta.com\/memory-of-water\"><em>Memory of Water<\/em><\/a>, by Emmi It\u00e4ranta, as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/academics\/events\/read\/\">Common Read<\/a> selection for 2016-2017. Students, faculty and others\u00a0are encouraged to engage with the text throughout the year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWater is a versatile theme,\u201d says chemistry professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/personnel\/people\/show\/tlk326\">Tara Kishbaugh<\/a>, who heads the 12-member committee of faculty, administrators, staff and students. \u201cA number of EMU\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/biology\/research\/\">science faculty<\/a> work on water quality-related projects. Some of <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/10\/wildlife-federation-backs-interdisciplinary-work-science-digital-media-peacebuilding-on-stream-restoration\/\">these projects are collaborative<\/a> with folks from the social sciences and the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegionally, the issues of the impairment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed as well as proposed and implemented natural gas extraction are relevant to our community. The Flint (Michigan) water crisis and drought in California have been prominent in news cycles. Potable water is a valuable commodity, and one that\u2019s likely to continue to cause conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e4ranta\u2019s work is fiction, imagining a future world of rising seas, widespread drought and military control of the remaining freshwater supplies. The debut novel, which she wrote simultaneously in English and her native Finnish, was published in 2012 and won the Kalevi J\u00e4ntti Literary Prize for young authors and the Young Alexis Kivi Prize the following year.<\/p>\n<p>It has received praise in the United States, as well. Nancy Hightower of <em>Washington Post Book World<\/em> said, \u201cIt\u00e4ranta\u2019s lyrical style makes this dystopian tale a beautiful exploration of environmental ethics and the power of ritual,\u201d while <em>Publishers Weekly<\/em> deemed it \u201ca deceptively tranquil examination of a world of dust and ashes where the tenacious weed of hope still survives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is the first true fiction novel in the Common Read \u00a0series, now in its fourth year. Previous selections have included <em><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2015\/10\/searching-for-zion-author-visits-campus-to-kick-off-2015-16-common-read-focus-on-race-identity-and-culture\/\">Searching for Zion<\/a>: The Quest for Home and the African Diaspora<\/em>, a memoir about race by Emily Raboteau; <em><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/08\/reading-the-same-book-brings-people-closer-together-as-a-community-by-creating-common-ground-for-discussion\/\">The Shallows<\/a>: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains<\/em>, by Nicholas Carr, a non-fiction work; and a first-person fictionalized memoir, <em>The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian<\/em>, by Sherman Alexie.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople often ask what criteria are used for picking the book,\u201d Kishbaugh says. \u201cWhile many books would be good choices, we consider book length, approachability for a variety of persons, and fit with EMU\u2019s goals, mission and current ethos. This year we chose a theme and style (fiction) before developing the short list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The book was given to all first-year students and used as a prompt in writing courses. Some other courses at both the Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, campuses\u00a0will\u00a0include the reading\u00a0in their syllabi.<\/p>\n<p>Kishbaugh says that common reading provides another \u201cconnector\u201d for people at EMU and a different angle for having conversations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpecifically, I think this book is a good catalyst for talking about the way that people view secrets and act on that knowledge or implied knowledge,\u201d she says. \u201cIt also provides a catalyst for talking about climate instability and envisioning a potential future if we don\u2019t make systematic changes to our resource consumption. It is in some ways a coming-of-age story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e4ranta will visit the Harrisonburg campus to speak April 2017. Other related events include a faculty-staff luncheon in September with opportunities to respond to the text; sharing from Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/personnel\/people\/show\/sdj862\">Steven Johnson&#8217;s<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/04\/students-dramatic-photos-help-focus-attention-on-wilderness-conservation-in-virginia\/\">Conservation Photography class<\/a> at the Nov. 2 \u201cTGIW\u201d discussion event; and two Suter Science Seminars with\u00a0Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emu.edu\/personnel\/people\/show\/yoderjm\">Jim Yoder<\/a> on Sept. 14 about stream restoration work in Bergton, Virginia, and Dr. Yanna Lambrinidou on the Flint water crisis Sept. 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Water, water everywhere\u2014and so many people take it for granted. As the life-giving liquid becomes an increasingly significant global resource, though, Eastern Mennonite University wants to make sure students are <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about EMU&#8217;s Common Read selection &#8216;Memory of Water&#8217; addresses drought, climate change and hidden knowledge<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17562,8845,5730],"tags":[10709,11856,10294],"feature":[17427,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-29679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digest","category-emu-at-lancaster","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-jim-yoder","tag-steven-johnson","tag-tara-kishbaugh","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EMU&#039;s Common Read selection &#039;Memory of Water&#039; addresses drought, climate change and hidden knowledge - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EMU&#039;s Common Read selection &#039;Memory of Water&#039; addresses drought, climate change and hidden knowledge - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Water, water everywhere\u2014and so many people take it for granted. As the life-giving liquid becomes an increasingly significant global resource, though, Eastern Mennonite University wants to make sure students are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-02T13:06:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-02T22:26:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/20160811-Common20Read20-20Memory20of20Water-002-1000px20long20edge.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\",\"name\":\"EMU's Common Read selection 'Memory of Water' addresses drought, climate change and hidden knowledge - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/20160811-Common20Read20-20Memory20of20Water-002-1000px20long20edge.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-02T13:06:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-02T22:26:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/d6737034219398924e6bd5dedcfa1245\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/20160811-Common20Read20-20Memory20of20Water-002-1000px20long20edge.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/20160811-Common20Read20-20Memory20of20Water-002-1000px20long20edge.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/emus-common-read-selection-memory-water-addresses-drought-climate-change-hidden-knowledge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"EMU&#8217;s Common Read selection &#8216;Memory of Water&#8217; 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