This project, now in its third year at U of L, encourages all students, faculty, staff, alumni and interested community members to read a book chosen for current relevance. This year's book choice is Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice. Anyone with a U of L ID can get free online access to the book through the U of L Library! A number of courses will use the book as a required text, and we will be holding some book-club events throughout the year.
What is a Common Book?
The idea of having a group of students read and discuss a common book began with a One School One Book project in the U.S. in the early 2000s. This idea spread to Canada, and Lethbridge was actually the first place in Canada to take up this project in 2007. The Lethbridge School District celebrated the project's 10th anniversary with the One District One Book in Fall 2017.
The Common Book at the U of L
The School of Liberal Education was founded at the University of Lethbridge in July 2017, with the goal to promote a broad integrated education that develops in our students evidence-based reasoning skills and engaged citizenship. This foundational teaching and learning philosophy extends beyond classroom instruction to include all aspects of the university and our broad community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
Book Criteria and Selection
The main criteria for our book choice was to have something engaging, relevant, and thought-provoking. When the project started in 2017, we chose a book related to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and that would contribute to Indigenization and reconciliation on our campus.
Book Choices
- 2017-18: The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir, by Joseph Auguste (Augie) Merasty and David Carpenter, 2015.
- 2018-19: The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir, by Joseph Auguste (Augie) Merasty and David Carpentar, 2015.
- 2019-2020: The Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice, 2018.
Resources
An instructional guide with thematic descriptions, discussion questions, and supporitng sources for Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice can be found here.
A CBC article about the new genre of Indigenous horror also includes themes related to this book: