GSS Book Club
Open to All
February 18, 2013
12:00 Noon - 1:00 pm
113 Dickinson Hall
Lunch is provided
This is a documentary film inspired by the widely acclaimed book of the same name by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
It was filmed in 10 countries and follows Kristof, WuDunn, and celebrity activists America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde on a journey to tell the stories of inspiring, courageous individuals. Across the globe oppression is being confronted, and real meaningful solutions are being fashioned through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality — which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds — present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change. All over the world women are seizing this opportunity.
March 14, 2013
12:00 Noon - 1:00 pm
113 Dickinson Hall
Lunch is provided
As someone who clocked more time in mosh pits and at pro-choice rallies than kneeling in a pew, Kaya Oakes was not necessarily the kind of Catholic girl the Vatican was after. But even while she immersed herself in the punk rock scene and proudly called herself an atheist, something kept pulling her back to the religion of her Irish roots.
After running away from the Church for thirty years, Kaya decides to return. Her marriage is under stress, her job is no longer satisfying, and with multiple deaths in her family, a darkness looms large. In spite of her frustration with Catholic conservatism, nothing brings her peace like Mass. After years of searching to no avail for a better religious fit, she realizes that the only way to find harmony—in her faith and her personal life—is to confront the Church she’d left behind.
Rebellious and hypercritical, Kaya relearns the catechisms and achieves the sacraments, all while trying to reconcile her liberal beliefs with contemporary Church philosophy. Along the way she meets a group of feisty feminist nuns, a “pray-and-bitch” circle, an all-too handsome Italian priest, and a motley crew of misfits doing their best to find their voices in an outdated institution.
This is a story of transformation, not only of Kaya’s from ex-Catholic to amateur theologian, but ultimately of the cultural and ethical pushes for change that are rocking the world’s largest religion to its core.
Kaya Oakes is the author of Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture, the poetry collection Telegraph, and cofounder of Kitchen Sink, winner of the Utne Independent Press Award for Best New Magazine. She teaches at . She wants to show some video segments that she says will need to be played on a dvd player. Can you tell me whether the location for her lecture will have one? She will also need a computer and projector.
A MacArthur Fellow and recipient of the Erasmus Prize, Peter Sellars remains among the most prominent advocates of the arts in America. He is also a professor of World Arts and Cultures at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he teaches courses such as “Art as Moral Action.” His guiding philosophy centers on the notion that opera and theater are appropriate for the contemplation and discussion of the most urgent issues of our lives, and, as a result, he has had a significant impact on contemporary theater, opera, music, and film. His acute awareness of human and ethical concerns informs every aspect of his work, from his iconoclastic stagings of Shakespeare and Mozart to more recent projects as director and librettist of Adams’s operas, such as Doctor Atomic (2005) and The Gospel According to the Other Mary (2012).
Co-sponsored by the Department of Music.
April 25, 2013
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
113 Dickinson Hall
Lunch is provided
Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.
Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom is a filmmaker, speaker, former actress, and advocate for women, girls, and their families. Newsom launched MissRepresentation.org, a call-to-action campaign that gives women and girls the tools to realize their full potential. Newsom graduated with honors both from Stanford University and Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and their two young children.
May 16, 2013
12:00 noon - 1:00 pm
113 Dickinson Hall
Lunch is provided
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.
In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of “having it all.” She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home.
Written with both humor and wisdom, Sandberg’s book is an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth. Lean In is destined to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can.
Past Book Club Discussions
February 24, 2010
discussed The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
March 31, 2010
discussed We Were the Mulvaneys; the author, Professor Joyce Carol Oates, joined us during the book discussion.
April 28, 2010
discussed Admission; the author, Jean Korelitz, joined us during the book discussion.
May 26, 2010
discussed Becoming Jane Eyre; the author, Sheila Kohler, joined us for the discussion.
September 15, 2010
discussed Live your Joy; the author, Bonnie St. John, joined us for the discussion.
October 27, 2010
discussed Passing Strange; the author, Martha Sandweiss, joined us for the discussion.
December 15, 2010
discussed Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
January 26, 2011
discussed Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Febryary 23, 2011
discussed Thinking about Leadership the author, Nan Keohane, joined us for the discussion.
March 30, 2011
discussed Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane.
April, 27, 2011
discussed Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls.
May 25, 2011
discussed Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein.
September 19, 2011
discussed Cracks and Love Child, the author, Sheila Kohler, joined us for the discussion.
October 26, 2011
discussed Sister Citizen by Melissa V. Harris-Perry.
November 30, 2011
discussed Equally Shared Parenting by Marc and Amy Vachon.
December 14, 2011
discussed A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates.
January 25, 2012
discussed Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon.
February 29, 2012
discussed Changed for Good: A Feminist History of the Broadway Musical, the author, Stacy Wolf, joined us for the discussion.
April 25, 2012
discussed How Great Women Lead, the authors, Bonnie St. John and her daughter, Darci, joined us for the discussion.
May 30, 2012
discussed Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
November 15, 2012
discussed The Meaning of Freedom by Angela Y. Davis.
December 13, 2012
discussed The End of Men and the Rise of Women by Hanna Rosin.
Please e-mail Maria Papadakis at mpapadak@princeton.edu if you would like to attend these book club discussions
