RACC-AAMU 2013 WELCOME

RACC-AAMU 2013 The Department of Social Sciences (DSS) welcomes you to Reading Across the Campus and Community (RACC-AAMU 2013). Once again we are focused on creating a collegial program centered on reading, provocative analysis and discussion. This is our contribution to the students of Alabama A&M University and community as we encourage you to become life-long readers and scholars. This year’s selected work is Putilzer Prize winner, Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans From the Civil War to World War II by Douglas Blackmon. We have established a semester long series of activities aimed at providing greater insight on issues and concerns addressed in the book. Of particular note, we are very grateful to Diane McArthur of the Learning Resources Center for building our Second Life feature centered on the Sloss furnace. We strongly encourage you to learn how to access and venture into the Second Life venue. Post to this blog will include a RACC-AAMU 2013 Agenda of activities and a RACC-AAMU 2013 Study Questions/Discussion Guide. We encourage you to share your views and perspectives via our on-campus discussions and this blog. Of particular note, we encourage students and anyone with personal information related to the Sloss furnace in Birmingham to share, if so desired, their stories on this blog. We are asking the students to use their social media skills and help us publicize this aspect of the program. The DSS faculty initiated RACC, but our goal and continuing emphasis is for you the students and community to take ownership of the process as an extra-curricular, self-directed program of study and learning. Finally, we dedicate this year’s RACC program to the memory of Kenneth Gunn. Kenny was an avid reader and active RACC participant who enriched all of us with his insight and challenging commentary. In recognition of his contributions, the RACC-AAMU 2013 essay contest is being awarded in his name, The Kenneth Gunn Essay Award.