Summer Reading and Resource List
One of the differences between high
school and college is the degree to which
you actively educate yourself, and your
summer reading can be a part of your
transition to greater engagement in your
own education. This summer, in addition
to reading the latest installment of your
favorite mystery or thriller series, consider
reading widely in the fields that are basic
to a liberal education. The reading list
below is not a required reading list. It
is, in fact, not one list but a number of
lists and resources brought together by
the faculty of the First Year of Studies
in cooperation with other Notre Dame
colleges, departments, and institutes. Of
particular note is the suggested reading for
the Notre Dame Forum, Sustainable Energy:
Enlighten, Engage, Empower. You will find
that issues surrounding the energy and
environmental crisis will be at the center
of academic discussion on campus this
fall.
The Notre Dame Forum -
Sustainable
Energy: Enlighten, Engage, Empower
Each year, the Notre Dame Forum
provides a focus for University intellectual,
social, and spiritual growth. This
fall, the Notre Dame Forum’s topic
will be Sustainable Energy: Enlighten,
Engage, Empower, and the campus-wide
convocation will take place on
September 24, 2008. Make certain you
take time to look at the forum’s website,
enlighten.nd.edu. This frequently updated
site will help prepare you for the forum.
There will be dorm, classroom, and
University-wide discussion of this topic
both before and after the forum, and
you’ll feel much more qualified to join
in those discussions if you make certain
you’ve looked at the website.
You will find that most of the following
recommended texts and resources on
this topic are distinctly interdisciplinary
in nature and include perspectives from
the sciences, the liberal arts, business,
and related areas, but if you only read
one book from this list this summer, it
should be The End of Oil by Paul Roberts.
This highly readable investigation of
the energy crisis includes a look at the
economics and politics of the problem,
as well as the possibilities surrounding
various alternative energy sources.
Another very highly recommended book
on the subject is E.O. Wilson’s Creation. Eloquent and persuasive, Wilson argues
for unity between science and religion
in their appreciation and salvation of
Summer Reading and Resource List
our wondrous and threatened world.
Jared Diamond’s Collapse is a fascinating
and highly readable case study of how
a number of different civilizations
collapsed because they did not take the
steps necessary to conserve the resources
on which they depended. It begins with
a discussion of the situation of Bitterroot
Valley in Montana today.
Thoreau’s Walden is an absolute classic;
it is one of the most widely read and
influential books ever written. Skip the
Sparksnotes, and read the real thing.
Beautifully written and wonderfully
challenging, Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at
Tinker Creek expands our often neglected
sense of relationship with “ordinary”
nature. For a highly influential and still
controversial book, try Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac. This is a classic
piece of environmental literature.
Leopold writes beautifully in appreciation
of nature, and this helps to heighten our awareness of what may be lost. Toward
the end of the book, he proposes a
holistic environmental ethic that has
laid the groundwork for much of the
subsequent work in environmental ethics.
According to the Times Literary
Supplement, John Houghton’s Global
Warming: The Complete Briefing is the“best single-volume guide to the science
of climate change” available. Houghton’s
book explains what causes climate
change, describes the science behind
global warming, and finishes with a
discussion of policy and what must be
done to stabilize the climate. William
Rees’s internationally acclaimed Our
Ecological Footprint: Reducing the Human
Impact on the Earth provides a tool for
measuring our impact on the earth in a
form everyone can use.
Kenneth Deffeyes’s Beyond Oil: The View
from Hubbert’s Peak suggests what the
future will look like when we do run
out of fossil fuels and surveys the pros
and cons of alternative resources, while
Paul Hawken’s and Amory and L. Hunter
Lovins’s Natural Capitalism: Creating the
Next Industrial Revolution concentrates on
a vision of the future in which a new type
of industrialism may be able to thrive
while saving the environment.
To begin to explore the environmental
and energy crisis from a specifically
Catholic point of view, be sure to
look at U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops’ “Renewing the Earth” pastoral
statement, November 14, 1991, and “Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common
Good” pastoral statement, June 15,
2001. Both highlight how strongly and
for how long the Church has spoken
regarding the importance of protecting
the environment. Also see Pope John Paul
II’s “The Ecological Crisis: A Common
Responsibility” World Day of Peace
message, January 1, 1990, as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s “The Human Person, the
Heart of Peace” World Day of Peace
message, January 1, 2007, and “The
Human Family, a Community of Peace”
World Day of Peace message, January 1,
2008, all of which emphasize our sacred
responsibility to protect the earth. These
documents are all available at the Forum’s
website, enlighten.nd.edu.
For a philosophical discussion of the
complexities and opportunities of our
interconnected world, look to Kwame
Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a
World of Strangers.
Broaden Your Horizons
In addition to doing some reading to
prepare for the Forum, you might select
several recommendations from Father
Monk Malloy’s wonderful book list,
“Books to Nourish One’s Soul and Broaden
One’s Horizons.” This essay and book list
by our previous University President and
current professor of theology is made up
of novels Father Malloy has used in his
first-year University Seminar on world
literature. They are gripping, entertaining
novels that will significantly broaden
your world. You can find this essay
and list in the Notre Dame Mendoza
College of Business’s online magazine
at http://nd.edu/~ndbizmag/winter2006/Books_web.shtml. Not on Father Malloy’s
list, but also highly recommended is The
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. This novel offers
the singular perspective of a young boy
with autism. The novel is an imaginative
expression of what it might mean to have
autism and how this condition affects
individuals and their families. In addition
to reading novels, don’t neglect poetry;
you will also find much to explore and
enjoy in the Norton Anthology of African American Literature and in World Poetry:
An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our
Time.
Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival
When you arrive on campus, you will
have an opportunity to see the Notre
Dame Shakespeare Festival production of
Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Take a look at the
website shakespeare.nd.edu for details
about this and other related Shakespeare
Festival events.
Making the Most of College
A favorite for several years and highly
recommended, Richard Light’s Making
the Most of College: College Students Speak
Their Minds is an insightful look at what
students do to be successful and engaged
in their college education. It’s great
reading for an incoming student.
Whatever you choose, read for pleasure
and read with a purpose. Use this summer
to reflect on what you want out of the
intellectual adventure before you, and
read to prepare yourself for a lifetime of
learning. Push yourself outside of your
intellectual comfort zone and try some
new areas. You cannot go wrong by
beginning with any of the above.
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