Summer Reading!

This week's Champlain Summer Reading is suggested by Cath D'Amico, from the Trent International Program!

The book is by Joan Clarke, and is called 'An Audience of Chairs'

Good Reads describes it as: 

Joan Clark’s An Audience of Chairs opens with Moranna MacKenzie living alone in her ancestral Cape Breton farmhouse, waging a war with the symptoms of bipolar disorder and grieving the loss of her two daughters, taken from her over thirty years previously. There are few people remaining in her life, as Moranna cannot help but tax the patience of nearly everyone she encounters. Her long-suffering brother Murdoch has her best interests at heart, though he is fatigued by her enormous needs and pressured by his ambitious wife to invest less time in her. Pastor Andy politely sloughs off the peculiarly intelligent yet unpalatable sermons Moranna pens for him. Her neighbour Lottie knows what it is to be an eccentric and can be counted on to come through in a pinch. The local RCMP constabulary smooths over her legal scrapes. And her lover Bun, who lives with her when not working on the ferries between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, knows how to give her a wide berth on her “foul weather” days. Thanks to the assistance of these sometimes reluctant guardian angels, as well as to the carefully planned inheritance left by her father (not to mention her own sheer ingenuity), Moranna has managed to get by all these years despite small-town gossips and tormenting youths.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about the devastating effects of Moranna’ s mental illness on her life and that of her family. ButAn Audience of Chairs also gives us a glimpse into the mind of a true iconoclast and wild spirit, who has managed despite overwhelming odds to keep hope alive.

Of An Audience of Chairs, Quill and Quire said: “Elegantly written and deeply grounded in place, this moving, compassionate novel is far more than a story of mental illness. Moranna’s quest is for peace, joy, and connection–the same yearnings that drive us all.”


Find out more at: bit.ly/MIAj3l

Sourced from Good Reads

Cheer Ashley On!

Hey Champlain can I get an attitude check!?

My name is Myles and I am a fourth year Champlainer taking a joint major in Biology and Philosophy. In my first year I lived right in K/L Tower and then proceeded to be an ISW Team Leader as well as joined College Cabinet as a Social Representative.

But enough about me. I am here to tell you all about an amazing opportunity that we as Champlainers have! Ashley Brzozowicz is a Canadian Olympic Rower and is also our Scholar/Athlete in Residence this year! Right now Ashley is in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics and is very busy with preparation and training.  I want to show her that Champlain is behind her 100% for a great Olympic games!

Our College Head, Dr. Mike Allcott, gave Ashley a Champlain scarf before she left for the Olympics, making her an official Champlainer! This means that a Champlainer is in London right now showcasing her skills in front of the world representing Canada. As an official Champlainer we need to show her as much support as we can and also CHEER as loud as we can, something Champlain does best!

Throughout Ashley's time and progress in London I will be posting updates as well as cheers on the Champlain College Facebook page. I want all of you to check out these updates as well as comment your own cheers and "Like" my comments to show Ashley that she not only has Canada behind her but Champlain College as well! 

Thanks,

Myles Latter

Champlain Summer Reading

Second Book in Champlain Summer Reading!

Suggested by Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Head of the International Development Studies Department.
 Written by Tracy Kidder, the book is called "Mountains beyond Mountains"

Haroon describes the book as: “testimonies of everyday acts of conscience that profoundly affect the people around the protagonists in ways that improve their lives.”

Find the book here: http://bit.ly/NCGHq1



Book Summary:

Tracy Kidder is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House Among Schoolchildrenand Home Town. He has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.

At the center of Mountains beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer, a physician, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, who was brought up in a bus and on a boat. His life’s calling is to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable and how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results. 

Mountains beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization and others in his quest to cure the world. This book is based on hope and the truth of the Haitian proverb that “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too. 

Mountains Beyond Mountains unfolds with the force of a gathering revelation,” says Annie Dillard. Jonathan Harr says, “[Farmer] wants to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”

Sourced from Goodreads.com 

Athlete in Residence!

Olympic Rowing! 

In 9 days watch our future Athlete in Residence compete in the 2012 London Olympic Games! Trent University and Champlain College wish Ashley Brzozowicz Good Luck in the Woman's 8!

Find out more about Ashley's journey to the Olympics here: 

Champlain Summer Reading

All Books recommended by Champlain Fellows!The first book is suggested by our College Head A. Michael Allcott. Ph.D

'I Shall Not Hate' By Izzeldin Abuleish

Find the Book Here:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8550813-i-shall-not-hate

Brief Summary:

By turns inspiring and heart-breaking, hopeful and horrifying, I Shall Not Hate is Izzeldin Abuelaish's account of an extraordinary life. A Harvard-trained Palestinian doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip and "who has devoted his life to medicine and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians" (New York Times), Abuelaish has been crossing the lines in the sand that divide Israelis and Palestinians for most of his life - as a physician who treats patients on both sides of the line, as a humanitarian who sees the need for improved health and education for women as the way forward in the Middle East. And, most recently, as the father whose daughters were killed by Israeli soldiers on January 16, 2009, during Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip. His response to this tragedy made news and won him humanitarian awards around the world. Instead of seeking revenge or sinking into hatred, Abuelaish called for the people in the region to start talking to each other. His deepest hope is that his daughters will be "the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis."


Source: Goodreads.com