Faculty finds fun in reading group

Author: Polly Johnson

With all our attention focused on our own lives and our own work, sometimes we forget to look around us and notice the interests and pursuits of those close to us. Unbeknownst to many, a number of Middlebury faculty have for a year been involved in the Race and Ethnicity Reading Group, a book club that was started by Assistant Professor of Political Science Erik Bleich, who felt that he was having "difficulty in finding time to talk about the issues of race and ethnicity given our hectic schedules." Other faculty and staff members echoed his sentiment, and the book club was born.

According to Bleich, "the idea is to get together a bunch of folks from different disciplines and backgrounds to talk about issues of race and ethnicity, looking at the topics from a variety of angles." With this central idea in mind, the group has read selections from such authors as W.E.B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon, Zadie Smith, K. Anthony Appiah, Charles Carenegie and Mahmood Mamdani, a political scientist.

Through their large variety of selections, the group has been exposed to a wide range of books that incite discussion about global, political, anthropological and social issues - in their last meeting, "the discussion focused on the current controversy about biological definitions of race," said Visiting Assistant Professor in American Literature and Civilization and Wonnacott Commons Faculty Co-head Deb Evans.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian and book club member Natasha Chang very much enjoys the group. She joined because she "believes that Middlebury has a long way to go in establishing a rigorous dialogue about race and ethnicity in our community." She sees "the existence of this group as one step taken toward the creation of a stronger community here, namely one that is committed to thinking intellectually about race and ethnicity in the world at large as well as on campus."

On average, according to Bleich, about ten faculty members attend each meeting, which meets two or three times per semester. He cites that number of attendees as an "unqualified success," for "getting an average of ten faculty and stuff members to attend such a group on a regular basis is asking a lot of some busy people."

Middlebury offers funding for reading groups, and there are currently nine in operation. According to Jean Thomson Fulton Professor of French Carol Rifelj, "funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has supported nine faculty reading groups over the past three years." Some examples of other reading groups in operation are the Medieval Hebrew Poetry Group, the Internet and Democracy Group and the Faculty Drama Group. According to Rifelj, "Each group has drawn faculty members from many different departments; and their reports at the end of the year have expressed appreciation for the significant intellectual interchange they provided."

The Race and Ethnicity group has been meeting since last winter. Bleich is blown away by the impact it has had on him and other faculty members. "I think we all get out of it a wider perspective on issues of race and ethnicity, and a deeper knowledge of specific topics that are of global importance."

An additional bonus of the group is the effect it is having on the professors in their classrooms. Evans said of the group and its impact on her teaching, "Without question the group is a great resource for faculty and staff members with questions about race and ethnicity, and hopefully our intellectual discussions will be reflected in our classroom teaching and work at the college."

Sujata Moorti, chair of the women's and gender studies department, echoed this idea, noting, "I find that some of the ideas we share and think through in these meetings have fed immediately into my teaching, especially since these are topics I address in my classes."

Aside from the intellectual pursuits of the group, faculty members enjoy the social time spent with other faculty. Professor of Anthropology Ellen Oxfeld said, "It is really nice to get together with a group of faculty to discuss works, since obviously everyone has a different point of view, and different insights, and this enables you to get a variety of perspectives."

The members are overwhelmingly proud of the group, and it is clear that the ultimate hope is not only to broaden their own horizons, but also for the group to have a profound effect on campus life. Said Moorti of her hopes, "This will in the long-run have an impact on how our students engage with the topics of race and ethnicity and, I hope, will shape our campus climate at a deep structural level."