Common Book Common Ground … common movie

Nipissing’s Faculty of Applied and Professional Studies is hosting two screenings of Modern Times: The Way of All Flesh, a BBC documentary on Henrietta Lacks, November 18 and November 22.
The documentary screening is part of the Common Book Common Ground project, which is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot this year.Screening times are:
Friday, November 18, from 1 – 2:30 p.m. in room H104; and
Tuesday, November 22, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in room H105.

The screenings are free of charge and all are welcome.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a poor black tobacco farmer whosecells — taken without her knowledge — became one of the most important tools in medicine. The cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovering secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helping lead to important advances like in-vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

The Common Book Common Ground project has two main goals: to introduce students in an academic way to literacy and critical thinking, and to provide students with some common intellectual ground to facilitate discussion and friendship.

Common Book Common Ground also serves to help build a sense of community among students, something that Nipissing has long excelled in, evidenced by the university’s consistently high marks in student satisfaction surveys like the Globe and Mail’s University Report and the National Survey on Student Engagement.