USD Invites Community to Join One of the Largest Book Clubs in the U.S.

The University of San Diego (USD) invites the community to join a national book club designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. USD, in partnership with the Black Storytellers of San Diego, joins the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to host The Big Read initiative.

USD is among 127 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from January-June 2008. Since the program's national launch in 2006, the NEA has funded more than 300 Big Read programs in the nation's towns and cities. From April 4-30, our community will celebrate “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neal Hurston with a full calendar of events, including a performance by the Black Storytellers on April 7. There are three ways to be apart of The Big Read:

Read “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Books can be borrowed from USD’s Copley Library, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center, Human Resources, The Center For Educational Excellence and the English Department. Books can be purchased at the USD Bookstore.

Join a Big Read Discussion Group. Sessions are on April 4 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at the Hahn University Center Room 107; April 7 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Salomon Lecture Hall with a special performance by the Black Storytellers of San Diego; April 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Mission Crossroads Lounge; and April 23 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. in Founders Hall French Parlor.

Listen to keynote speaker Valerie Boyd at 7 p.m., April 25 at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Theatre.

Watch the film version of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and discuss the book at 6 p.m., April 30 in Olin Hall, Room 229.

For more information, or to register for either of these events, contact The Center for Educational Excellence at (619) 260-7402 or go to www.sandiego.edu/cee/BigReadUSD.php.

About The University of San Diego

The University of San Diego is a Catholic institution of higher learning chartered in 1949; the school enrolls approximately 7,500 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The inauguration of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies brings the university’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Law, Leadership and Education Sciences, and Nursing and Health Science.

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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.