Class of 2016 Reading: Half the Sky
Since Fall of 2011, each upcoming freshman class has been assigned a summer reading. What, an assignment before you even arrive at college?! However, these books allow the new students to come to campus with a common topic to discuss, and the themes presented in these works are recurrent themes throughout freshman year. This past year, the Class of 2015 read The Good Life by Peter Gomes, and the year was modeled after creating “The Good Life” during our first two semesters at Vanderbilt. The book selected by faculty and students for this upcoming academic year is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The Class of 2016 will be learning about the girl effect and how this phenomenon can change the Vanderbilt community and the world.
So, what exactly is the girl effect? Trust me, I had no clue at first, but it sounded appealing (I mean, girls are the best!). Basically, the girl effect focuses on investing in women in impoverished countries. But why girls? The belief of the girl effect movement is that when you invest in one girl, her family, her community, and her nation will benefit from her positive actions. This concept is a little difficult to explain, so below is a video created by Nike highlighting the movement:
Half the Sky will be one of the focuses of the Vanderbilt Visions groups, small student groups that consist of about eighteen freshmen and a student and faculty mentor, called VUceptors. As a Student VUceptor for the 2012-2013 academic year, I look forward to reading this book over the summer. Half the Sky will be the first discussion topic in Visions groups at the beginning of the school year. In addition, author Nicholas Kristof will be visiting Vanderbilt in January 2013 to speak about his experiences and promote his passion for supporting women worldwide. Regardless of whether the Class of 2016 supports the girl effect or not, the freshman community will learn about an interesting topic that will stir up many discussions. It will be a fast read that provides a whole new perspective on women