From: Lee, Felicia
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 11:20 AM
To: Trinity Faculty/Staff; Trinity Students
Cc: Tynes, Sheryl; Newhouse, Ben; Millet, Michelle
Subject: 2009-2010 Reading TUgether Program

Dear Trinity Faculty, Staff, and Students:

Last year, Trinity University launched the Reading TUgether program. The inaugural selection was Three Cups of Tea, and Greg Mortenson, co-author and subject of the book, served as the featured speaker to kick-off the 2008-2009 academic year. Entering first year students along with many returning students, faculty, and staff collectively read the book over the summer and attended the lecture on the evening of the first day of classes. Over 1,800 university and community guests filled Laurie Auditorium to hear Mr. Mortenson speak earnestly and eloquently about access to education, the recent successes and challenges building schools within the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the need for active citizens to make a positive difference wherever and whenever possible.

We are pleased to announce the book and speaker selection for the 2009-10 Reading TUgether program.

The book will be Mountains Beyond Mountains by Pulitzer-prize winning author Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains chronicles the work of Dr. Paul Farmer, who has made it his mission to transform health care on a global scale by focusing on the world's poorest and sickest communities. In 1987, Dr. Farmer helped found a nonprofit called Partners in Health (PIH), which treats 1,000 patients daily for free in the Haitian countryside. PIH also works to cure drug-resistant tuberculosis among prisoners in Russia and in the slums of Lima, Peru. Dr. Farmer is a renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, and the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.

The featured speaker for Reading TUgether will be Dr. David Walton, a protégé of Paul Farmer. Dr. Walton earned his BA from Augustana College and his MD from Harvard Medical School in 2003. He completed the Doris and Howard Hiatt Global Health Equity Residency Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and received his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2007. Dr. Walton is currently an associate physician and hospitalist in the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He divides his time between Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Hôpital de Lascahobas in Haiti, where he serves as the associate director of the hospital. His responsibilities in Haiti include directing and supervising a team of healthcare professionals and community health workers, leading HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevention programs, and seeing patients with HIV, TB, and other chronic diseases. Dr. Walton will speak about the current work of Dr. Farmer and Partners in Health on the first day of class, August 27, 2009 in Laurie Auditorium at 7pm.

The campus bookstore will sell paperback copies of Mountains Beyond Mountains for $15.95 with a 10% discount for Trinity faculty, staff, and students. Departmental orders will receive a 20% discount. The Trinity library will also have copies for loan.

We encourage students, staff, and faculty to read Mountains Beyond Mountains and we look forward to discussing it as a community next fall.

Sincerely,

Felicia J. Lee, Ph.D.

Vice President for Student Affairs

Michael Fischer, Ph.D.

Vice President for Academic Affairs

*special thanks to the Information Literacy Committee for their generous co-sponsorship