Common Book Common Ground launches

Students and professors in the faculty of applied and professional studies will be finding common ground this year in the pages of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, the book that has been selected for this year’s Common Book Common Ground project. The 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.

Last year, the project launched with Honorary Degree recipient Joseph Boyden’s book, Three Day Road. The successful inaugural year saw Criminal Justice student Viviana Schadenburg, take home the grand prize in the essay contest.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge — became one of the most important tools in medicine. The cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped 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.

Find out more on the book here, or join our Facebook group: www.facebook.com/commonbook