UNC Asheville Alumni Summer Book Club program is a common book/reading experience designed to develop and maintain a continuing education opportunity for UNC Asheville alumni, as well as faculty, staff, and community friends, regardless of their proximity to the institution.

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UNC Asheville Alumni Summer Book Club
Purpose
To developandmaintainacommonbook/readingexperience programthatwill provide acontinuing
educationopportunity forUNCAsheville alumni,aswell asfaculty,staff,andcommunityfriends.
Target Audience
The program’s targetaudience is UNCAsheville alumni andconstituents,regardlessof locationor
proximitytoeachotheror to the university.
Program Concept
The book selectedforsummerreadingwillbe basedonthe authorselectedforthatfall’sGoodman
EndowedLiteraryWriterSeries,hostedbythe Literature andLanguage department. Groupdiscussions
will primarilybe conductedonline,withastaff memberservingasthe discussionmoderator/manager.
However,those participatinginthe programmayopt to gathertogethertodiscussthe bookin person,
withor withoutalocal discussionleader.
In Phase 1 of the program (June/July),the moderator/managerintroducesthe booktothe group,posts
initial discussiontopics,andguidesflow of “conversation.”UNCAshevillefacultymembersspecializing
intopicsrelatedtothe specificpartsof the book (plot,setting,characters,timeline,historicevents,
cultural traditionsandpractices,etc.) wouldlendtheirinsightduringPhase 2of the online discussion
(August/September).Phase 3encompassesthe program’sanchorevent –the oncampus receptionfor
the featuredauthor(October).
Anchor Event (s)
The anchor eventforthisprogram isthe Goodman EndowedLiteraryWriterSeries reception.The
Literature andLanguage departmentselectsawriterforthe serieseachspring.Thatwriteragreesto
have a receptionand/orreadingoncampusthat fall.The alumni bookclubwouldpromote the series,
the selectedauthor,andthe opportunityforalumni togain furtherinsightaboutthe bookdirectlyfrom
the author byattendingthe reception/reading.
Program “SoftLaunch” Announcement(June/July2013)
In recognitionof the Goodmanlecture seriesandextensive campusacademicexpertise,the Alumni
Associationwillstartanonline bookclubwhere memberscanmeetregionallyorparticipate solely
online,beginningwithWileyCash'sbookasthe focusof their study. Inreflectionof the liberal arts
mission,the clubwill drawfrommultiple areasof facultyexpertise andtouchonmanysubjectsacross
disciplines.Anyone interestedinparticipatingshouldcontactthe Alumni officeat alumni@unca.edu,or
stay tunedforupdatesonthe website, alumni.unca.edu.Communitymembers,regardlessof city,as
well asfaculty/staff,studentsandalumni are all welcome to be involved.

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Some UniversitieswithSimilarAlumni Book Clubs
 Universityof MinnesotaMorris Alumni –Morris Alumni BookClub
 CreightonUniversity Alumni –CreightonAlumni BookClub
 JohnHopkinsUniversity Alumni –HopkinsOnline BookClub
 Duke University Alumni –Duke Reads
 Universityof Connecticut Alumni,CommonRead –A Novel Groupof
Huskies:The UConnAlumni Association’sGlobal BookClub
 Mars Hill College Alumni –Mars Hill College AlumniBookClub
 Wake Forest Alumni –Wake ForestAlumni BookClub
 CarletonCollege Alumni –Alumni Network:Alumni BookClub
 American University – Washington,DC Alumni– AlumniBookClub Series
 NotreDame Alumni– NotreDame Club of Chicago
 Oakland University Alumni– Film BookClub
 Babson College Alumni,First-Yr – Alumni SummerBookClub
*Italics indicate actual meetingstake place withreadersanddiscussionleaders(not virtualbookclubs)
Sample Club Features& Set-up
 Group opento – alumni,students,faculty,friendsof university
 Led by – Literature and/orEnglishfacultymember,librarian,alumni office staff member
 Platform – blog,virtual bookclubwebsite,university’swebsite
 Selection– chosenbygroup leader,pickedbyclubmembers, featuresalumni authors
 Books – focuson chosentheme,writtenbyalumni,tie into First-Yr/Freshmen/CommonRead
Sample Verbiage/Wording
FromJohnsHopkins
Welcome tothe newHopkins Online Book Club.
The HopkinsOnline BookClubconnectsalumni throughparticipationinavirtual book groupand online
discussion.
Hostedby a differentfacultyeachmonth,the BookClubbeginswithatapedconversationavailable
online (aswell asatranscribedversion) withthatmonth'sfacultypresenter.The conversationcontinues
withthe online discussionforthe durationof thatmonth.
Thisprogram iscurrentlyon holdwhile we developthe secondphase of ouronline communityand
future site of bookclubdiscussions, Connect.

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Please checkbackin2013 for updatesonthe bookclub.Inthe meantime,pleaseenjoythe previous
bookclubselectionsandintroductionsbyfacultyhostsbyclickingonthe booklinksbelow.
FromCreighton University
CreightonAlumni Book Club
Jointhe CreightonAlumni Associationaswe dive intoreadingandbeginourveryownbookclub!We’ll
choose a differentbookeachquarterandthendiscussitonline withotheralumni.The discussionwill be
guidedbyeitherthe authoror a renownedfacultymemberoralumnus.
Joinus thissummerandread“The God Box” byMary Lou Quinlan.If youare in the Omaha area,joinus
for a presentation/oneactplayperformedbyQuinlan.The first100 alumni whoattendwill receive a
free copyof the book.For more informationaboutthe event, clickhere.
Watch for more informationaboutthe bookclubcomingsoon!
In the meantime,if youwouldlike tojointhe club,please email SarahLukas
(BA’02,MA’08), in the Alumni RelationsOffice at slukas@creighton.edu.
Happy Reading!
FromBabson College
Join the Alumni Summer Book Club!
We invite facultyandstaff tojointhe Alumni Summer BookClub – don’tmissthe chance to meetthe
maincharacter on August29th!
On Monday,August29th from4:00pm to 5:30pm there will be atalk,Q&A session,andbooksigningin
SorensonTheaterwiththe mainsubjectof the book,CedricJennings.
Jointhe thirdannual alumni summerbookclubandread the bookrequiredof all the First-Year
undergraduates. Whatare the First-YearStudentsReadingthisSummer?
Thisyear,the choice is: A Hope inthe Unseen:AnAmericanOdysseyfromthe InnerCitytothe Ivy
League byRon Suskind.
The book isavailable withfree shippingforalumni andadiscountforemployeesatthe college
bookstore:781-239-4375 or ltowns@babson.edu.
Please email aheller@babson.edu toregisterorwithquestions.