Wheaton News

Professors diving into good reads

Summer is a great time for relaxing and reading. We asked some of the professors who will be included on the publications and honors page in the upcoming issue of Wheaton Magazine what they plan to read and why. Below is what they said. What about you? Tell us what you plan to read and why at [email protected].

“I’ll be reading and trying out recipes in Terry Bryant’s Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed, for ideas of things to cook in my “Rituals of Dinner” First-Year Seminar in the fall, and some murder mysteries by Danish writer Sara Blaedel because I love murder mysteries in general and her stories about detective Louise Ricks in particular.”—Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, professor of religion

“Currently on my nightstand is Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction and this summer I plan to read Safia Umoja Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. This spring I taught a course on the problems that metrics in global health pose to delivering meaningful healthcare and this has driven me to better understand the role that algorithms are playing in cultural production.”—M. Gabriela Torres, professor of anthropology

“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon—(fun + history of comics).”—Mark LeBlanc, professor of computer science

“One of the books I’m reading this summer is I’m So Fine by Khadijah Queen. It is a book of poems/ micro-essays describing the life of a young woman who grew up in L.A. The quick reflections and flash reflections are intriguing and addictive.”—Kent Shaw, assistant professor of English

“Salman Rushdie, The Golden House. I’m actually planning on re-reading this because anything written by Salman Rushdie is magnificent and deserves to be read at least a couple of times. Plus, any book that claims knowledge not as power but as beauty will make me swoon, every single time.”—Touba Ghadessi, professor of art history 

“I’ll be reading the essays in Nature’s Healing Spirit: Real Life Stories to Nurture the Soul; Was the Cat in the Hat Black? The Hidden Racism of Children’s Literature and the Need for Diverse Books by Philip Nel. The Meaningful Writing Project: Learning, Teaching and Writing in Higher Education by Michele Eodice, Anne Geller and Neal Lerner. How Writing Works: A Guide to Composing Genres by Jordynn Jack and Katie Rose Guest Pryal. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro. I can’t really say which are for work and which are for fun; reading, learning and connecting with others’ ideas are gratifying, expansive activities, and I’m grateful to be able to do them as part of my professional practice.”—Lisa Lebduska, professor of English

“I’m reading Carol Pal’s Republic of Women: Rethinking the Republic of Letters in the Seventeenth Century. It’s about the intellectual communities women philosophers, scientists and mathematicians created with each other and with their male peers”—Nancy Kendrick, professor of philosophy